Over the last few weeks, very little has gone according to plan for the men's soccer team, as losses to lower-ranked opponents have plagued the once-No. 1 Blue Devils. But Wednesday night, for the first time in a while, everything did go according to plan, as Duke easily dispatched the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, 6-0.
The 13th-ranked Blue Devils wasted little time before putting a dent in the scoreboard. Just 3:42 into the game, junior Andy Kwon took a Jay Heaps pass and beat the Seahawk goalie for a quick 1-0 Duke lead.
The visiting Blue Devils held a 5-0 advantage by halftime and cruised to the easy victory.
"Once we scored the first goal it relieved a lot of the pressure," Duke coach John Rennie said. "We were able to relax and play our game."
Rennie said he was pleased with the effort he received from all of his players, but especially that of Matt Shattuck and freshman Peter Gail, both of whom saw more action than usual. Gail got his first start of the season at fullback in place of Evan Whitfield, who was serving a one-game suspension after receiving a red card versus Marshall last week. Shattuck came off the bench midway through the first half and quickly picked up an assist on a Brian Kelly goal 31:16 into the contest.
"When [Shattuck] came into the game it gave us a big lift," Rennie said. "We scored one goal right away, and then a couple more after that."
Following the Kelly goal, the Blue Devils scored three more times in just over eight minutes to put the game away. Heaps finished with a goal and two assists, while Kelly added an assist to his goal. Troy Garner, Sam Smith, and Steve Maynard also scored for Duke, which raised its record to 8-3 (1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference).
"We did exactly what we wanted to do," Rennie said, "Which was nice for a change."
The Blue Devils will look to build off this victory when they visit N.C. State on Sunday at 1 p.m. in a key ACC contest. Rennie said he expects a tough battle, as both teams fight to stay afloat in the conference. He added that the Wolfpack, despite being winless in ACC competition, should be a step above UNC-Wilmington, which fell to 6-6 with the loss to Duke.
"We can get some confidence from [Wednesday's game]," Rennie said. "But it's one game against an opponent who's not as highly ranked as the rest of our schedule... But when you have a good win you can take something from it."
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