March 26, 2003

DURHAM, N.C. - The 2003 Duke women's soccer schedule was released on Wednesday and once again the Blue Devils have one of the toughest schedules in the country. Twelve of Duke's 17 opponents in 2003 participated in the 2002 NCAA Tournament and nine were ranked in the final 2002 NSCAA/adidas National Rankings.

Duke head coach Robbie Church and the Blue Devils will open the season with two home games against Campbell (Aug. 29) and Texas (Aug. 31) before participating in three tournaments in three consecutive weeks. Duke will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. for the University of North Carolina Tournament on September 5 and 7, and face Nebraska and Kentucky. The Blue Devils will then travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. for the Wake Forest Tournament and take on Oregon State on Sept. 12 and Washington State on Sept. 14. The Blue Devils will host the 13th annual Duke adidas Classic, featuring North Carolina, UCLA and Richmond, with Duke playing the Spiders on Sept. 19 and the Bruins on Sept. 21. Other non-conference opponents include Davidson, Greensboro and Gardner Webb on Sept. 26, 28 and Oct. 27, respectively.

Duke will kick off the ACC season on Oct. 1 when they host instate rivals North Carolina and Wake Forest on Oct. 4. The Blue Devils travel to Florida State and N.C. State on Oct. 10 and 15, respectively, before returning home to face Virginia on Oct. 19. Clemson will host Duke on Oct. 24 before the Blue Devils return home to host Maryland on Senior Night, Oct. 31, for the last matchup up of the regular season.

The 2003 Blue Devils return 13 of 19 letterwinners and eight starters from a team that finished 9-9-2.

Date            Opponent              Place              Time
Sat., Aug. 23   Old Dominion (scrim)  Norfolk, Va.       7:00 p.m.
Fri., Aug. 29   Campbell              Durham, N.C.       7:00 p.m.
Sun., Aug. 31   Texas                 Durham, N.C.       7:00 p.m.

                   UNC Tournament
Fri., Sept. 5   Nebraska              Chapel Hill, N.C.  5:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 7   Kentucky              Chapel Hill, N.C.  1:00 p.m.

                  Wake Forest Tournament
Fri., Sept. 12  Oregon State          Winston-Salem, N.C.5:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 14  Washington State      Winston-Salem, N.C.11:30 a.m.

                  Duke adidas Classic
Fri., Sept. 19  UNC  vs. UCLA         Durham, N.C.       5:00 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 19  Richmond              Durham, N.C.       7:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 21  UCLA                  Durham, N.C.      12:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 21  UNC vs. Richmond      Durham, N.C.       4:30 p.m.

Fri., Sept. 26  Davidson              Davidson, N.C.     7:00 p.m.
Sun., Sept. 28  UNC Greensboro        Greensboro, N.C.   2:00 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 1    North Carolina*       Durham, N.C.       7:00 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 4    Wake Forest*          Durham, N.C.       7:00 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 10   Florida State*        Tallahassee, Fla.  7:00 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 15   N.C. State*           Raleigh, N.C.      7:00 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 19   Virginia*             Durham, N.C.       1:00 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 24   Clemson*              Clemson, S.C.      7:00 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 27   Gardner-Webb          Durham, N.C.       7:00 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 31   Maryland*             Durham, N.C.       7:00 p.m.
Thurs., Nov. 6  ACC Quarterfinals     Cary, N.C.         TBA
Fri., Nov. 7    ACC Semifinals        Cary, N.C.         TBA
Sun., Nov. 9    ACC Championship      Cary, N.C.         TBA

* denotes ACC match
bold denotes home match

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