No. 8 Duke is stepping into ACC play with a heavyweight matchup right out of the gate, hosting No. 9 Virginia on Friday at 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
The Blue Devils enter the conference opener riding a 4-2 start and coming off a strong home stretch that included a 5-1 win over James Madison and a 4-0 shutout of VCU. That sets up a busy run at home, with six of Duke’s next seven games on its own turf.
This one also lands as Duke’s third game against an NFHCA top-20 opponent, with six more still ahead against current top-20 teams. The schedule has already tested the Blue Devils, too: both losses have come against top-10 opposition in No.
1 Northwestern and No. 5 Maryland.
Friday’s meeting is the 67th all-time between Duke and Virginia, and the Cavaliers hold the edge in the series, 43-23. The recent history has been tight.
Nine of the last 11 matchups have been decided by one goal, and five of those went to extra time. Duke’s last win over Virginia came on Oct. 6, 2023, a 2-1 overtime victory.
Duke has made a habit of striking early this season. The Blue Devils have scored 16 of their 22 goals in the first half and have found the net in the opening 15 minutes in each of their first six games.
That includes first-quarter goals against William & Mary, Maryland and VCU. They’ve also been dangerous in the second period, with two-goal bursts against William & Mary, Northwestern and James Madison.
The offense has not been one-dimensional. Ten different Blue Devils have scored this season, and five players have multiple goals.
Ashley Stockdale leads the way with six goals and 13 points, while Juliette Schulten has three goals. Adriana Ensani, Sofia Fidalgo Schioppa, Maggie Kondrath, Kyle Massey, Callie Rogers, Lily Soldan and Shae Wozniak have each added one.
Stockdale has been the breakout name in the bunch. The junior from Darien, Connecticut, opened the season with a career-high two goals against William & Mary and has scored in five of Duke’s six games. Her six goals and 13 points both rank second and fifth in the ACC, respectively, and she has already topped her scoring output from 2025.
Alaina McVeigh remains central to everything Duke does, even if the scoring has been spread around. She has three goals and a team-best four assists, which ranks No. 2 in the ACC. McVeigh now has 48 career goals, ninth in Duke history, and 114 career points, 10th on the school list.
Set pieces have been a major part of Duke’s attack. The Blue Devils have scored 10 times off 54 penalty corners, a 19 percent conversion rate, and they average 7.83 corners per game, which leads the ACC and ranks 10th in the NCAA. Stockdale and Schulten have done the bulk of the damage on those chances, with four and three goals, respectively, while Kondrath, McVeigh and Rogers have also scored on corners.
Duke’s defense has backed up the offense with three shutouts and some stingy numbers across the board. The Blue Devils are allowing 7.50 shots per game, and they held opponents to fewer than 10 shots in four games.
Against James Madison and VCU last weekend, Duke limited the two teams to a combined four shots. VCU didn’t record an attempt in the entire 60 minutes, and James Madison went the first 46 minutes without getting one off.
The Blue Devils also have two shutouts from Kaiya Chepow in 2026, while head coach Pam Bustin now has 354 career wins, fourth all-time among active Division I field hockey coaches.
Duke ranks first in the ACC in total points with 58 and points per game at 9.67. The Blue Devils are also second in total goals with 22, third in goals per game at 3.67 and fifth in assists with 14.
After Virginia, Duke heads to No. 4 Wake Forest on Sept. 25 before returning home to face Boston College on Sept.
- Both games will stream live on ACCNX.
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