Blue Devils Close Non-Conference Action Sunday Versus VCU

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Match 6
VCU (0-4-1) at No. 2 Duke (4-0-1)
Sunday, Aug. 30 – 1 PM (ET) – ACCNX
Durham, N.C. (Freeman Field at Koskinen Stadium)
ACCNX Talent: Zach Berly (PBP), Matt Stradley (Color)

NEED TO KNOW

The No. 2 ranked Duke women's soccer team (4-0-1) will return home to close non-conference play Sunday, Aug. 30 as the Blue Devils host VCU (0-4-1) at 1 p.m., at Freeman Field at Koskinen Stadium.
The match will air live on the ACCNX with Zach Berly (PXP) and Matt Stradley (Color) calling the action.
Duke owns a 20-2-1 record in August over the past five years
The Blue Devils will have a 12-day break before next opening ACC action against No. 1 Stanford Sunday, Sept. 13 at 12 p.m., live on ACC Network.
Seniors Cameron Roller and Mia Oliaro were named captains for 2026.
Head coach Kieran Hall is in his second year as the head coach of the Blue Devils, after leading Duke to the NCAA College Cup in 2025 with a 17-5-1 record.
The No. 3 preseason ranking for Duke marks the fourth time in the last five seasons the Blue Devils have been a preseason top-five team and the 10th time in school history.

STORYLINES/OTHER BLUE DEVIL NOTES

Senior Phoebe Goldthwaite will see action in her 50th career match Sunday. She is coming off collecting a career-high two assists at Old Dominion Thursday to help complete the late comeback.
The game-winning goal by Katie Shea Collins at ODU was the fourth-latest goal by Duke since 2022.
Avery Oder's four assists in 2026 rank tied for fourth nationally and is only one behind the national leaders.
In 39 matches at home over her career, Mia Minestrella has scored 27 goals.
Duke has scored 16 goals this year by four different players -- Mia Minestrella (7), Katie Shea Collins (4), Avery Oder (2) and Sam Courtwright (2). Ten different players have netted at least one assist.
Cameron Roller has started 58 matches in a row as a Blue Devil.
Duke featured four players on the MAC Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch list that was released Wednesday -- Sam Courtwright, Katie Shea Collins, Mia Minestrella and Cameron Roller.
Duke features four players who have earned All-America honors during their collegiate careers -- Mia Minestrella (2025), Katie Shea Collins (2025), Cameron Roller (2024) and Sam Courtwright (2023).
Last year, Kieran Hall became just the third Division I women's soccer coach in NCAA history to take a team to the NCAA College Cup in their first year as a head coach -- Damon Nahas of UNC in 2024 and Marguerie Bates of UCLA in 2022.
Over the last two years, Duke has sent eight alumnae to the NWSL -- Hannah Bebar (Bay FC), Leah Freeman (San Diego Wave FC), Maggie Graham (Houston Dash), Ella Hase (Racing Louisville FC), Mary Long (Kansas City Current), Carina Lageyre (Angel City FC), Kat Rader (Houston Dash) and Devin Lynch (Denver Summit).

THE SERIES WITH VCU

Duke and VCU will meet for the second time in program history with the Blue Devils leading the series, 1-0.
The only previous meeting came in the 2004 NCAA Tournament in Charlottesville, Va., as Duke posted a 2-1 victory in the first round.
The contest will mark the first regular-season meeting between the two programs and the first played in Durham.

SCOUTING VCU

VCU enters the contest with a 0-4-1 record.
The Rams are coming off a 1-1 draw at UNC Wilmington Thursday.
Three different VCU players have scored a goal, while the defense has allowed 13 on the season.

AGAINST THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE

Duke owns a record of 24-2 all-time against Atlantic 10 opponents – Davidson (9-0), Dayton (2-0), Fordham (1-0), George Mason (2-0), George Washington (1-2), La Salle (1-0), Rhode Island (1-0), Richmond (3-0), Saint Louis (3-0) and VCU (1-0).
The Blue Devils have won 24 straight matches against Atlantic 10 opponents, with their last loss coming against George Washington in 1989.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

The Blue Devils boast an 87-15-11 record at Koskinen Stadium since the start of the 2017 campaign.
In the first half, the Blue Devils allowed only four goals at home in 2025.
Duke has outscored its opponents 104-16 at home over the last three seasons. The Blue Devils totaled a program-record 50 goals at home in 2024, passing the previous mark of 40 from 2017. Duke notched 42 goals at home in 2025.
In 2025, Duke outscored opponents 42-10 at home with Mia Minestrella (12), Avery Oder (5) and Mia Oliaro (2) leading the way.
Mia Oliaro collected 11 assists in 15 home matches in 2025.
Mia Minestrella has played in 39 matches at home over her career and notched 27 goals, 11 assists and notched 65 points. She had 12 goals, four assists and 28 points in 15 games a season ago. Minestrella has registered five goals in two home games so far in 2026.

LATE GAME HEROICS

Duke had some late game heroics at Old Dominion Thursday.
After falling behind at the 67:08 mark, 1-0, the Blue Devils rallied late. It marked the first time this season Duke had trailed.
Duke failed to score a goal in the first half for the first time this season.
Mia Minestrella scored at the 82:51 mark, off assists from Avery Oder and Phoebe Goldthwaite.
Katie Shea Collins added the game-winner at the 88:07 mark, off assists by Goldthwaite and Molly Vapensky.

FIRST HALF GOALS

Over the first three games, all of Duke's eight goals came in the first half.
The Blue Devils scored three in the second half versus Rhode Island and then two at Old Dominion. Duke now owns 11 first half goals and five in the second.
Duke has outshot opponents 41-7 in the first half this season.
All four goals the Blue Devils have allowed have come in the second half.

GOALS LAST THREE YEARS

In looking at the NCAA D-I stats over the last three years (2024, 2025, 2026), Mia Minestrella has scored the second-most goals nationally -- Izzy Engle (38, Notre Dame), Minestrella (37, Duke) and Hope Leyba (30, Colorado) are the top three nationally.
So far in 2026, Minestrella ranks tied for second nationally with seven goals. She trails Kayla Keefer of Oklahoma (8) and is tied with Jaiden Anderson of Purdue.

HIGH-SCORING TANDEM

Duke features one of the top scoring tandems in collegiate soccer with Mia Minestrella and Katie Shea Collins.
They have combined to score 64 goals over the last three years.
So far this season, Minestrella has seven goals and Collins has scored four.

A WIN WOULD...

Give Duke 495 all-time wins as a program, with five more needed to reach 500.
Be the 25th straight win for Duke against Atlantic Conference opponents.
Mark an undefeated non-conference regular season schedule for the Blue Devils.

BIG WEEK FOR MIA

Senior Mia Minestrella continued her impressive play last week by scoring five goals in two matches and leading Duke to a pair of wins against FIU and Rhode Island.
Minestrella was named the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week Tuesday for her efforts.
She was also selected to the TopDrawerSoccer Honorable Mention Team of the Week and the CollegeSoccerNews Offensive Player of the Week.
She netted her sixth and seventh multi-goal performances last week and now owns three games with three or more goals in her career.

Blue Devils Close Non-Conference Action Sunday Versus VCU

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Players Mentioned

Katie Shea Collins

Sam Courtwright

Phoebe Goldthwaite

Carina Lageyre

Devin Lynch

Mia Minestrella

Avery Oder

Mia Oliaro

Kat Rader

Cameron Roller

Molly Vapensky

Duke information

Blue Devils Close Non-Conference Action Sunday Versus VCU

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Players Mentioned

Katie Shea Collins

Sam Courtwright

Phoebe Goldthwaite

Carina Lageyre

Devin Lynch

Mia Minestrella

Avery Oder

Mia Oliaro

Kat Rader

Cameron Roller

Molly Vapensky

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