Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Walnut Creek, California

    Women's Soccer coming of age

    Very nice write-up by ESPN's Graham Hays.

    If you don't know what you're looking for, the soccer practice field is easy to miss as you drive along the far edge of Duke's campus. Only a short, unpaved driveway interrupts the thick tree cover along the main road and announces its presence. On a late summer day, with the leaves still lush and the hum of birds and insects still loud, the main road and campus beyond fade away as you turn in, only the right angles of the field left for orientation.

    It's an appropriate setting for a program long tucked away in the shadow of the greatest dynasty in women's college soccer. But easy as it has been to skip right past Duke in a sport dominated by the University of North Carolina, times are changing. The other program in the area may be on the verge of becoming the other championship program.
    The piece has some insightful comments about Coach Church.

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim3k View Post
    Very nice write-up by ESPN's Graham Hays.



    The piece has some insightful comments about Coach Church.
    Great article for DWS. Many of us have long understood and appreciated the great character and family atmosphere that Robbie Church has created at Duke. He has been landing the nation's top recruits for awhile, with two Elite 8's and a Sweet 16 in the last four years. Doesn't hurt to have a Billy Lesesne and Carla Overbeck on the staff for so many years...maybe the best staff in the country. Glad he and his current team are getting some national ink. Proud of you, DWS!!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC

    Nice article... thanks Jim3k!

    Jim3k, thanks for posting this article.

    I have a soccer playing daughter at home so I love it when these hard working young ladies get the credit they deserve. Go Duke!
    -Son of Jarhead

    The Duke fan formerly known as BuschDevil

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2008
    That article says Church is 39-38-13 in ACC in 10 years at Duke. His predecessor Hempen took Duke to the NCAA championship game 4 years after creating the program and left the program in great shape to go to Colorado for some reason, Alleva's pick Church has never been to a final 4. Only GA Tech doesn't play womens soccer in ACC, Duke should be easily outrecruiting every ACC school except UNC, maybe even outrecruiting every NCAA school except UNC since the heels can't take every bluechip and the ones they reject should want to go to a better school right down the road to stick it to the heels. 39-38 in the ACC doesn't sound like the best staff in America, UNC and half the ACC might beg to differ. Kerr with mens soccer has been worse, his predecessor Rennie won Duke's first national title and was ranked 1st or 2nd each of his last 3 seasons at least which is as far back as goduke goes, while Kerr's team is unranked and 1-3.

  5. #5
    Congrats to DWS for a beat-down of recent the Final Four team, Texas A&M in the Duke Tourney today, 7-2. UNC defeated UNC Greensboro, 2-0. Great win for a very promising squad. Coach Church and his staff have done their usual strong recruiting job this past year, and the freshmen have performed well to complement the equally strong sophomore class. The juniors and seniors are exerting there skill and leadership to lead this team. Should be another fun year to take another step forward to what is already one of the most consistent programs in the country. Two Elite 8's and one Sweet 16 in the last four years...the best may be yet to come. Go DWS!!
    Last edited by Verga3; 09-09-2011 at 11:45 PM. Reason: my poor spelling

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC

    Gotta give our coach some support...

    Quote Originally Posted by laxbluedevil View Post
    That article says Church is 39-38-13 in ACC in 10 years at Duke. His predecessor Hempen took Duke to the NCAA championship game 4 years after creating the program and left the program in great shape to go to Colorado for some reason, Alleva's pick Church has never been to a final 4. Only GA Tech doesn't play womens soccer in ACC, Duke should be easily outrecruiting every ACC school except UNC, maybe even outrecruiting every NCAA school except UNC since the heels can't take every bluechip and the ones they reject should want to go to a better school right down the road to stick it to the heels. 39-38 in the ACC doesn't sound like the best staff in America, UNC and half the ACC might beg to differ. Kerr with mens soccer has been worse, his predecessor Rennie won Duke's first national title and was ranked 1st or 2nd each of his last 3 seasons at least which is as far back as goduke goes, while Kerr's team is unranked and 1-3.
    Coaching in the best women's soccer conference in the nation may explain Church's record a bit. A quick look at the rankings (SoccerTimes poll below) shows 7 ACC teams ranked in the top 13 nationally and 3 more receiving enough votes to make the top 30 if the poll were extended beyond 25. Only Clemson failed to get any votes. Also, as the article linked states, 10 of Duke's 18 NCAA tourney wins have come since Church became coach in 2001. That means Duke had only 8 tourney wins in the 13 previous years since the program was founded in '88, most of those likely coming in Hempen's finals run. Only those hated tarheels find making the finals easy in women's soccer, for everybody else, it is darn hard. IMO, Church is doing very well.

    And as for Kerr, this is his 4th year and he has guided Duke to the NCAA tourney each year with a record over his first 3 years of 34-21-6. I think it is a little early to be writing him off. This year has begun rough, but two of those losses came by one goal in overtime, and the game tonight vs. UVA was a close, hard fought 0-1 game in which Duke controlled possession most of the 2nd half and had many chances to tie the game. They are very close to having their record reversed. Let's give them a chance.

    __________________________________________________ ____________________________

    SoccerTimes Women's College Soccer Poll - September 5, 2011

    Rank/School/Record/Points/LastWeek'sRank (First-place votes in parentheses)
    1 North Carolina (13) 4-0-0 397 1
    2 Stanford (3) 4-0-1 386 2
    3 Maryland 5-0-1 364 3
    4 Virginia 6-0-0 340 5
    5 UCLA 4-0-1 327 4
    6 Oklahoma State 7-0-0 311 7
    7 Florida State 5-1-0 304 8
    8 Florida 4-1-0 291 10
    9 Duke 5-1-0 251 6
    10 Notre Dame 3-2-0 237 11
    11 California-Irvine 5-0-0 223 14
    12 Boston College 3-0-2 186 12
    13 Wake Forest 4-1-0 173 13
    14 Tennessee 5-1-0 162 18
    15 Santa Clara 3-0-2 154 16
    16 Marquette 5-1-0 149 15
    17 Oregon State 3-1-1 121 20
    18 Pepperdine 5-0-1 115 nr
    19 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 6-0-0 92 25
    20 Ohio State 4-2-0 88 19
    21 Penn State 5-1-0 80 22
    22 Memphis 5-0-0 74 23
    23 Portland 2-3-0 69 9
    24 Illinois 5-1-0 63 17
    25 Boston University 5-0-1 58 nr

    Dropped out: No. 21 Georgetown, No. 24 San Diego.

    Others receiving votes: Virginia Tech 36, Kansas 24, California 15, Miami (Fla.) 15, North Carolina State 13, Auburn 12, Texas 11, Texas A&M 11, Georgetown 10, William & Mary 10, Brigham Young 8, Central Florida 7, San Diego State 7, West Virginia 7, Wisconsin 6, San Diego 3, South Carolina 3, Oregon 2, Southern California 1.
    Last edited by Son of Jarhead; 09-10-2011 at 12:20 AM. Reason: Left out quote.
    -Son of Jarhead

    The Duke fan formerly known as BuschDevil

Similar Threads

  1. Duke Women's Soccer Advances
    By MCFinARL in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 11-15-2010, 11:24 AM
  2. 2009 Women's Soccer Thread
    By awhom111 in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 08-30-2009, 05:31 PM
  3. All-ACC women's soccer team
    By jimsumner in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 11-04-2008, 02:29 PM
  4. Women's Soccer Advances
    By jimmymax in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 11-25-2007, 04:16 PM
  5. Duke Women's Soccer
    By ugadevil in forum Elizabeth King Forum
    Replies: 0
    Last Post: 11-15-2007, 03:38 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •