Nine games into the season, the conspicuous-looking '0' still hangs under the 'L' column for the men's soccer team.
The last time Duke went that deep into a season without a loss was in 1992, when the Blue Devils marched all the way to the Final Four before falling to Virginia in the national semifinal.
Last Saturday, the second-ranked Blue Devils (7-0-2) took another step toward an unblemished season by shutting out struggling George Mason (4-8-1) 3-0 at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Va.
"It's too early to say [how good we are]," coach John Rennie said. "What we've had is a great start. We've successfully replaced some great players, and our job is to continue that."
Having gone scoreless in its last three matches coming into Saturday, George Mason concentrated much of its efforts on stopping Duke's potent attack.
Playing most of the game in their end of the field, the Patriots kept the Blue Devils off the board for nearly the entire first half.
But like clockwork, Duke's offense struck in the form of junior Ali Curtis, who has been as hot as anyone in the country of late. In the game's 43rd minute, Curtis took a touch pass from Noah Lewkowitz and rifled home his 10th goal of the season from six yards out.
The goal marked the fifth straight time that Curtis has scored the game-winner in a Duke victory.
"The best way to describe it is that he's at the top of his game," Rennie said. "He's healthy, he's in great shape and he's getting great opportunities that he creates himself or other teammates created."
When Curtis reached double digits in goals Saturday, senior forward Peter Gail, Duke's third-leading returning scorer, was still looking to put up that first digit. Ten minutes into the second half, Gail finally scored when he headed in a cross from Donald McIntosh to put Duke up 2-0.
DePaul transfer Demetrio Sanchez rounded out the scoring by notching his second goal of the season in the 82nd minute.
Note: The Blue Devils travel to Winston-Salem tonight to take on a fellow unbeaten, No. 7 Wake Forest, at 7 p.m.... Duke won both of its meetings last season with the Demon Deacons, winning at home 3-1 early in the season and 1-0 in the ACC Tournament... Wake has not beaten Duke since 1992, when it beat Final Four-bound Duke 3-0.
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