Julia’s Journey

A product of Roswell, Ga., Riley Jackson recently finished her second season with the North Carolina Courage. Once a Duke women's soccer commit, Jackson signed with the Courage during high school as a 17-year-old. Jackson is a former No. 1 ranked recruit nationally and was the 2021-22 Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year. Jackson will be a contributing writer during the 2025 season for the Blue Devils telling stories of the Duke women's soccer program.

DURHAM, N.C.-- Senior forward Julia Saunicheva has become a powerful presence on the pitch this year. Now in her third year at Duke after transferring from UCLA in 2023, she has readily embraced an expanded role logging more minutes than in her previous two seasons with the squad and delivering key goals and assists. Saunicheva expressed how transferring to Duke was the 'best decision' she could have made for her growth on and off the pitch.

"My decision to come to Duke is honestly the best decision that I ever made. It changed my life completely," said Saunicheva. "I feel like I'm ready. Ready to do what the team needs and step into a newer role on the squad. I feel like I'm a really big presence on the field and I'm just really happy to be helping the team."

While stepping into new territory, restarting her college campaign at Duke was made easier by the fact that Saunicheva would again take the field with childhood best friend Elle Piper. The two's long-standing connection and the strong culture of the team as a whole helped Saunicheva in her transition to playing at Duke.

"Our team culture is really good and that includes the coaching staff," said Saunicheva. "Having people that believe in you was really important to my growth.
Elle Piper, Julia Saunicheva

Her parents immigrated from Russia just two years before she was born and as a result Saunicheva's childhood looked slightly different than that of her peers. Showing dedication to the process and continuously striving to be her best, Saunicheva displays an attitude towards greatness that she attributes to her Russian heritage.

"I was born here in the United States, but my parents immigrated from Russia about two years before I was born," said Saunicheva. "My childhood looked a bit different than that of a lot of my friends. A Russian value that my parents instilled in me from a young age is working hard to be the best you can be. I think that has definitely helped me in soccer. Even though I feel like I am in a really good place right now I want to keep working hard and push my limits."

As with any new venture, Saunicheva's first years at Duke presented many challenges. While not fielding as many minutes as she may have hoped and missing out on the NCAA Tournament her sophomore season, Saunicheva was able to reflect on potential for growth and focus on other opportunities off the pitch.

"My sophomore year was really challenging when we didn't make the NCAA Tournament," said Saunicheva. "I was able to reflect on what I could do better as an individual and how I could better help the team"

Coming to Duke offered Saunicheva a new perspective, most notably shifting her priorities from being rooted solely in soccer and allowing her to become more well-rounded. The quality of student-athlete life at Duke is few and far between. In coming to Duke, Saunicheva was presented with the opportunity to step outside of her comfort zone and pursue ambitious academic interests.
Julia Saunicheva

"With complete transparency, during my time at UCLA soccer was my whole life and all that I cared about. When things with soccer were not going my way at UCLA, that took a really big toll on me," said Saunicheva. "Coming to Duke I realized that there is more to life than just soccer. Duke is super academic, all of the girls here are really passionate about school, too. So that kind of shifted for me"

"Before coming to Duke I was afraid to take all of these challenging classes, they all sounded so scary; biochemistry, organic chem," said Saunicheva. "There were some older girls that were taking them, so they encouraged me to at least try. I ended up doing well enough to start exploring different health avenues that I could take and eventually discovered my interest in dentistry."

Saunicheva has spent the fall preparing for her next endeavors which will likely include her attending dental school following her spring semester at Duke. She explained how her time at Duke has motivated her to explore goals for her future outside of soccer.

"Again, coming to Duke showed me that academics are really important. I knew that I was always interested in science, and I knew that I wanted to do something in healthcare, but I was not sure what. The transition from UCLA to Duke in a way also really forced me to figure out what I wanted to do with my life," said Saunicheva. "I realized that the precision of what dentists do is quite similar to soccer actually. You practice the same thing over and over until it is perfect."

Despite a challenging adjustment period, Saunicheva learned to enjoy contributing to the group in different ways and never failed to maintain her standards of hard work.

"Not playing is hard and the way that I got through it was finding joy in contributing in other ways like working hard in practice," said Saunicheva. "I realized that soccer is not forever, so trying to find joy in every moment with the team is so important. Training against and playing with some of the best girls in the country gave me the confidence that I was getting better every day. I learned how to focus on the process rather than the end goal and also the importance of showing the younger girls that there is more to life as well."
Julia Saunicheva

"Every person you bring into the program, you hope that they just crush it and have a great experience," said Duke head coach Kieran Hall. "You hope they play really well all the time, but it's never so linear, and I think Julia went through a sort of transition period where coming in as a transfer, she had to get accustomed to this new environment, and it took her a little bit of time. But now what we're seeing is a version of Julia that is one of the most hard-working players on the field. I love her competitive mentality -- she is ferocious in how she goes about her business. The quality is really shining right now. She's playing so well, she is getting assists and goals. Julia is fun as well and a great person to have around."

In 2025, Saunicheva has played in all 18 matches, while earning the starting nod in two contests. She has played in a career-high 765 minutes. Saunicheva scored goals against Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, while adding assists against VMI, Alabama, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, NC State and Notre Dame. At one point, she scored or assisted in four games in a row.

Saunicheva is hopeful that her journey at Duke will be something the younger members of the squad can learn from.

"I am really happy with where I am at. I am happy with the minutes and how I am playing, but I also think that the opportunity to show some of the younger players my story has been very special. Hopefully they can take something from it," said Saunicheva.

With the goal of winning a National Championship her senior season, Saunicheva will be an exciting player to watch as she brings her energy and competitive spirit into postseason play. Duke will next host UCF Thursday, Nov. 20 at 6:30 p.m., in the NCAA Tournament second round in Durham.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".

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Players Mentioned

Elle Piper

Julia Saunicheva

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Julia’s Journey

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