Coming off their biggest upset of the year, the Blue Devils hope to continue their success by finally notching a three-game winning streak as the regular season comes to a close.
Duke will travel to Elon, N.C., to take on the Phoenix Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Rudd Field. After losing their first three games in October, the Blue Devils knocked off Campbell before shocking then-No. 4 Notre Dame in double overtime 2-1 last Friday, and they now have a chance to finish the regular season with a winning record. Following its contest at Elon, Duke will cap off the regular season at No. 16 Virginia Friday.
Although the Blue Devils fell behind 1-0 early against the Fighting Irish, their comeback and second top-10 win of the year have them confident as the ACC tournament approaches.
“We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with as we go down the stretch,” Duke head coach John Kerr said after Friday's win.
In their final home game of the regular season, the Blue Devils (6-6-2) finally generated scoring opportunities in the first half—something they have struggled with through an up-and-down campaign. Following Notre Dame's fifth-minute goal, Duke recovered, with freshman Brandon Williamson capitalizing in the 35th minute to equalize before also scoring the game-winner in double overtime.
Williamson's goals were the rookie's first of the year, and a welcome sight for a Blue Devil team that had almost exclusively been relying on the junior duo of Cameron Moseley and Brian White to finish near the goal.
“It was just a matter of time before we put one in the back of the net,” Williamson said Friday.
Against Elon (7-3-3), Duke will be facing a defense that has only allowed 10 goals this season. The Phoenix will be taking on their second ACC team of the year—they won 2-0 at N.C. State early in the season—and will look to goalkeeper Matthew Jegier to stop a Blue Devil offense that has scored multiple goals in consecutive games for the first time all year.
Jegier could be up to the task against Moseley, White and the rest of the Duke offense. The redshirt sophomore has six shutouts already this season, but will face one of his stiffest tests as the freshman duo of Max Moser and Suniel Veerakone has created more Blue Devil chances of late.
The tandem has combined for 11 assists this year and excels at sending crosses into the box for Moseley and White.
On the other side of the field, Duke will have to contend with Elon's own dangerous offensive players. Elijah Agu leads the Phoenix offense with 11 goals—including four game-winners—and has broken open several games himself. The Cary, N.C., native is the older brother of Blue Devil freshman reserve Colby Agu and has scored multiple goals in four contests this year.
Sophomore midfielder Nick Adamczyk leads Elon with five assists this season, but no other Phoenix player has more than three goals or three assists, meaning Duke will likely have a specific focus defensively after slowing down Notre Dame.
Blue Devil star goalkeeper Robert Moewes bounced back from a tough stretch in which he allowed 10 goals in four matches with a spectacular performance against the Fighting Irish. The graduate student managed seven saves against the Fighting Irish to get back on track.
“He hasn’t been playing as well as he could be in recent games, but he showed [against Notre Dame] what he’s worth,” Kerr said.
Although Duke has plenty of momentum, the Blue Devils struggled in previous Tuesday losses to Georgia State and Davidson, meaning consistency will likely be the focus for Kerr's team at Elon. But if Duke can avoid the lapses that have led to an inconsistent regular season, it can gain confidence entering the last week of the season with Friday's game at Virginia likely determining its ACC tournament seeding.
“We’re going to come out on fire,” Williamson said, “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we’re good enough to be one of the top teams.”
Alex Sanfilippo contributed reporting.
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