Blue Devils Travel Down Tobacco Road to Face No. 1 UNC

Friday, October 23

Chapel Hill, N.C.

7 P.M.

Duke University

North Carolina

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Travel Down Tobacco Road to Face No. 1 UNC

10/22/2020 3:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Duke-UNC Game Notes

2020 Schedule l Twitter l Live Stats l Digital Game Program l Watch Live on ACC Network Extra

Match 9
No. 4 Duke (5-1-2, 3-1-2 ACC) at No. 1 North Carolina (6-0, 6-0 ACC)
Friday, Oct. 23, 2020
7:00 PM – ACC Network Extra
Chapel Hill, N.C. (Dorrance Field)

NEED TO KNOW
•   Duke will face the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams nationally in its next two contests
•   Head coach Robbie Church is one win away from reaching 250 wins at Duke
•   Rookie Maggie Graham scored her first two career goals in Duke's last match versus Syracuse
•   The Duke defense has held its opponents scoreless for 411:52 since allowing first half goals in its first match against top-ranked North Carolina.
•   Junior Forward Delaney Graham received TopDrawerSoccer.com and College Soccer News National Team of the Week accolades on Tuesday.
•   The Blue Devils brought the fifth-ranked recruiting class to Durham this year, marking the ninth-straight year Church has delivered a top 10 signing class.

DUKE VS. UNC...
One of the greatest rivalry in sports will resume Friday in Chapel Hill, N.C., as Duke and North Carolina will tangle for the 48th time. The Tar Heels lead the overall series, 41-3-3.

In matches played in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Blue Devils are 3-15-1. Duke's three victories have come in Chapel Hill in 1994, 2005 and 2015. Friday's contest will be the second time Duke and UNC have played this season. It will be a non-conference match.

Head coach Robbie Church is 2-20-3 all-time against North Carolina.

Duke holds a record of 2-19-1 against No. 1 ranked teams over its school history, while a 1-13 mark against Tar Heel No. 1 ranked squads.

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE LAST MEETING...
Top-ranked North Carolina scored two late first half goals on its way to taking down seventh-ranked Duke, 2-0, at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, N.C., on Sept. 27.

North Carolina outshot Duke, 13-11, but the Blue Devils held a 6-5 advantage in the second half. Duke had a few excellent chances against the Tar Heels, but couldn't put the ball in the net. Junior Delaney Graham made her first start of the season at forward and led Duke with three shots. Ruthie Jones played the 90 minutes in goal and had six saves.

HEY, I KNOW YOU!...
Duke's Remi Swartz and UNC's Brianna Pinto are very close friends. They played together from age 14-18. Swartz works with Pinto's father, Hassan, on a podcast called Blue Blood Rivalry. It is about UNC and Duke sports and the rivalry between them. Swartz is the pundit, there is a UNC pundit and then Hassan is the moderator.

Natasha Turner of Duke played with UNC's Laura Sparling, Miah Araba and Natalie Chandler from U-11/U-12 through U-17 at Triangle United. Sparling and Turner moved to CASL ECNL for U-18. Turner, Sparling and Araba also attended Carrboro H.S., and won three state championships.

Maggie Graham and Talia Dellaperuta of UNC played Tophat soccer together.

Delaney Graham of Duke and Maycee Bell of North Carolina played U-8 soccer against each other in Wichita, Kan. Delaney along with Rachel Jones and Brianna Pinto of UNC played Tophat soccer together.

Ruthie Jones of Duke and Claudia Dickey and Mary Elliot McCabe of UNC are very close friends. They played on the same high school/club soccer teams. Dickey and Jones trained together for goalkeeper training, basketball practice and soccer team trainings. They would ride together back and forth from club and basketball practices.

Assistant coach Carla Overbeck will face her alma mater as she is a 1990 graduate of North Carolina. She collected an 89-0-6 record at UNC and won four NCAA Championships under Anson Dorrance.

SCORELESS STREAK...
Since the Blue Devils allowed a goal at the 43:21 mark of the first half to top-ranked North Carolina, Duke's stellar defense has accumulated a 411:52 scoreless streak. Duke's streak ranks first in the ACC.

Goalkeeper Ruthie Jones' streak of 366:52 currently ranks ninth on Duke's record charts.

CONSECUTIVE MINUTES WITHOUT ALLOWING A GOAL (2002-present)
1.    Allison Lipsher (11/1/06-9/9/07)     603:33
2.   Tara Campbell (9/18-10/13/11)      558:17
3.   Allison Lipsher (9/10-10/9/04)      533:44
4.   EJ Proctor (9/17-10/9/16)      484:32
5.   EJ Proctor (11/11-12/1/17)         443:15
6.   Brooke Heinsohn (9/26/19-10/13/19)      392:50
7.   EJ Proctor (10/25-11/22/15)      377:21
8.   EJ Proctor (8/26-9/9/16)       368:59
9. Ruthie Jones (9/27-present)   366:52
10.   Tara Campbell (8/29-9/17/10)       358:23

TOUGH DEFENSE...
Duke's defense has allowed only two goals over its last six matches and both tallies came against top-ranked North Carolina. The Blue Devils now own five shutouts on the season, which leads the ACC.

Senior's Taylor Mitchell and Caitlin Cosme have been the anchors on defense in the middle, while redshirt senior Mia Gyau, freshman Emily Royson and junior Delaney Graham have been outstanding as well. Remi Swartz and Karlie Paschall both played big in the Boston College match with Royson out as well.

HELLO FAMILY...
Friday's contest at North Carolina will be the first match of 2020 that family members are allowed to see the Blue Devils play in person. The Tar Heels are allowing two immediate family members in attendance for the match.

CHURCH NEARING 250 WINS...
Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church owns 249 wins over his 20 seasons at Duke and needs only one victory to reach 250.

GYAU NETS CAREER HIGH IN LINEUP SWITCH...
For the first time this season, Mia Gyau started at the forward slot this past Sunday at Syracuse. The speedy redshirt senior made her presence up front felt quickly as she assisted on the first two goals, which came in the first 20 minutes of the match. The two assists were a career high as she entered the match with two career assists in 45 matches.

OFFENSE COMES ALIVE...
After scoring only four goals over the previous five matches, Duke matched a season high with four goals at Syracuse Sunday in a 4-0 blanking over the Orange. The Blue Devils have now tallied eight goals over the last four contests.

MAGGIE GRAHAM NETS TWO GOALS AT SYRACUSE...
Continuing to get more time on pitch as each game goes by, freshman Maggie Graham capitalized on her minutes at Syracuse registering her first two collegiate goals.

She is one of 10 ACC players in 2020 to register two or more goals in a match. Graham has started three straight matches in the midfield.

Maggie and Delaney Graham have now combined for four goals and one assist for nine points on the year.

NOTING DUKE...
• Prior to Duke collecting three first half goals at Syracuse, the Blue Devils had scored only two first half goals on the season, while scoring five goals in the second half.
• The Blue Devils have notched 71 corner kicks on the season to rank first in the ACC on the year. Duke had a season-high 17 at Boston College. The Blue Devils also lead the ACC with 33 offside calls.
• Duke is currently on a four-game winning streak. During the streak, the Blue Devils have outscored opponents by a combined ledger of 8-0.
• Freshman Emily Royson missed the Boston College contest with an illness, but came back to start the Syracuse match Sunday.
• In a shortened season due to COVID-19, goalkeeper Ruthie Jones has logged four shutouts, which ranks tied for first in the ACC along with her good friend Claudia Dickey of North Carolina and Gabby Kouzelos of Louisville.
• Marykate McGuire ranks tied for sixth in the ACC with a 3.0 shots per game average. She also ranks tied for third in the ACC with four assists along with Karlie Paschall.
• Duke is ranked in the top five for the first time since week 10 of the 2018 season. The Blue Devils' No. 4 national ranking is the highest regular season ledger since 2017.
• Friday's contest against North Carolina will be Duke's second of five straight road games to conclude the regular season.
• No. 4 Duke closed a streak of five straight home contests against Virginia Tech, posting a 2-1-2 record over the homestand.
• Caitlin Cosme and Taylor Mitchell own a tied for team-best 725 minutes played on the season.
• Duke had to come-from-behind in its first two matches to open the
season.

GRAHAM IS GOLDEN AT BOSTON COLLEGE...
Junior forward Delaney Graham scored in the 96th minute to push the Blue Devils past Boston College, 1-0, last week. Graham, who hails from Atlanta, Ga., scored for the second straight contest and the third time in her three-year career, after being moved up front four matches ago.

With her game-winner at Boston College and her assist at Syracuse, Graham was named to the TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News National Team of the Week on Oct. 20.

SPREADING OUT THE OFFENSE...
On the season, Duke features six different student-athletes who have scored at least two goals. Caitlin Cosme (3), Marykate McGuire (2), Delaney Graham (2), Maggie Graham, Tess Boade (2) and Olivia Migli (2).