Duke women’s soccer coach Robbie Church was thinking maybe this would be it. After almost 40 years of coaching — and more than two decades at Duke — the 2023 season could be his last.
But then a 6-7-3 record happened — the fewest season wins of his career.
“There was no way in Hell I was gonna leave, sorry, on that last year,” Church said.
Retirement could wait one more year. And what a final season it’s been.
For the first time in program history, Duke women’s soccer received the No. 1 overall seed for the 2024 NCAA tournament — no surprise for a team that had a 15-match unbeaten run and finished first in the ACC, one of the toughest soccer conferences in the nation. Church, who took over at Duke in 2001, has now accumulated more than 300 wins with the Blue Devils, won three ACC Coach of the Year awards and built a standard of excellence that lives on in each of his players.
SOUND UP ‼️
🗣️ ROBBIE, ROBBIE, ROBBIE! pic.twitter.com/LehWRGeDy1
— Duke Women’s Soccer (@DukeWSOC) October 28, 2024
Rewind to this time last year, though, and the conversation around Duke women’s soccer was anything but celebratory.
For the first time since 2014, the Blue Devils would not be in the NCAA tournament.
As first round games started last year, the Blue…
