For the first time in its program history, the Duke Blue Devils received the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA DI women’s soccer tournament, setting them up to host through the quarterfinals. North Carolina, who came into the tournament as a No. 2 seed, also enjoyed a home-field advantage through the quarterfinals. Here’s a recap of how each semifinalist made it to the 2024 Women’s College Cup and which teams they beat to get here.
Duke (18-2-1)
The Blue Devils will make their fifth appearance in the College Cup (1992, 2011, 2015, 2017 and 2024) and the third under the direction of coach Robbie Church, who after 23 seasons at the helm will be retiring after this season. Duke has not conceded a single goal so far this tournament, earning comfortable wins in the first three rounds over Howard (8-0), No. 8 Texas Tech (3-0) and No. 5 Michigan State (2-0). The closest game so far was a 1-0 quarterfinal win over No. 7 seed Virginia Tech, which was won off a first-half frenzy in front of the Hokies’ net, resulting in a Nicky Chico goal. That’s 14 goals in four postseason games. Chico’s goal also lifted the Blue Devils to a new single-season program scoring record with 68 goals.
