The Blue Devils are riding their longest winning streak in school history, and they have no intention of taking their foot off the gas. Hot on the heels of yet another victory, Duke must now prepare for another late-season tilt and postseason tune-up this weekend.
No. 4 Duke travels to Syracuse and looks to continue its dominance against the unranked Orange Sunday afternoon at 1 at the SU Soccer Stadium. The teams last met in October of last year, a convincing 4-0 victory for the Blue Devils.
Thursday night, Duke (15-1-0, 8-0-0 in the ACC) extended its winning streak to 15 games, but Boston College did not make it easy. The Blue Devils conceded just their first goal of October and were outshot by the Eagles, but senior Schuyler DeBree’s second-half heroics broke the tie with a game-winning goal off of a free kick from close to midfield.
Duke head coach Robbie Church was satisfied with the victory, but believes that his squad has not yet reached its full potential and needs to be more consistent on both ends as it approaches the postseason.
“We’ve still got to be just a little bit more persistent than we played tonight because there were big swings in our game where we were really good, and there were big swings where we were not as good as we’re capable of being, and that was disappointing,” Church said.
Syracuse (7-7-2, 2-5-1) dropped its second straight contest in a home loss against No. 13 Virginia Thursday night, conceding three goals in each game. However, the Blue Devils are not taking the Orange lightly despite their lowly record. Church emphasized the inherent difficulty of playing on the road, especially against a team lacking in the win column.
“We’re going to play another really, really hungry team, and it’s going to be a tough match again, and even more than Boston College, they’re desperate for a quality win,” Church said.
The Blue Devils will look to take advantage of Syracuse’s shaky backline, which has allowed 22 goals on the season. Although they do have seven shutouts to their name, the Orange’s lack of consistency on the defensive end has resulted in several lopsided defeats, most notably a miserable 7-0 loss to North Carolina. Duke’s offense, powered by forwards Imani Dorsey and Kayla McCoy and their 17 combined goals, will look to get on the board early and rattle the Syracuse defenders from the start.
Duke’s defense, on the other hand, has been close to impenetrable. Anchored by senior goalkeeper EJ Proctor, the Blue Devils have allowed just eight goals this season. The Orange’s offense, led by sophomore forward Sydney Brackett, has registered 11 points and five goals on the season, but will likely have difficulty finding the back of the net Sunday.
Church acknowledged that Duke’s run of success may provide its opponents with a bit of extra motivation, making every matchup into a potential trap game. To that end, he emphasized the need for continued preparation and adherence to their game plan as the Blue Devils close out their regular season.
“We’re a big target for everybody right now with a high RPI, a high national ranking, a lot of wins, but we’ve been that for the last month, so we’ve just got to prepare ourselves,” Church said. “I think we’ve got to be a little bit more consistent in the game to play at a higher level a little bit longer.”
With just two games remaining in its regular-season schedule, Duke will want to finish strong and carry its momentum and winning streak into the postseason. Sunday’s matchup promises to be an exciting stepping stone for the Blue Devils as they continue on their path to potential NCAA tournament glory.
Hank Tucker contributed reporting.
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