Just as Jordan Cila softly skidded a pass, calm as could be, through two aggressive Campbell defenders last night at Koskinen Stadium, Blake Camp nonchalantly wandered up to the edge of the penalty box, only to find a soccer ball waiting there for him, begging him to fire it in and shut up a loud Campbell goalie.
Camp did not think twice, booting home a goal in a game that was almost that easy for all 90 minutes as the men's soccer team (9-3-1) ran circles around the Fighting Camels (2-9-0), scoring all three goals in a rapid-fire first half for another non-conference thrashing, 3-1.
"That one was really well set up and wasn't too hard to put home," Camp said of his second goal of the year. "It just got the momentum going, and we were able to get rolling from there."
Cila kept up that Blue Devil edge throughout the first half, as he controlled the tempo while Duke outshot Campbell 10-1. After setting up the Camp goal in the 15th minute, Cila gave Fighting Camel keeper Bill Englishby reason to cherp again as his quick move in the box was stoned on a diving save.
But at 31:04, Cila stood at nearly the same spot as his first assist and flicked a touch pass from Owoicho "Nigie" Adogwa to freshman Danny Kramer. Englishby would not be hollering for much longer, as Kramer bounced one under the jumping keeper, who fell, dejected, to his knees just as the ball skipped to the back of the net for a 2-0 Duke lead.
With the Fighting Camels now noticeably overmatched, the Blue Devils left them trudging through their barren desert of talent and pushed for another attack just three minutes later. After a quick lead from Cila at midfield, Adogwa boxed out his defender while racing for the goal. Just as the aggressive Adogwa was stuffed at the six-yard box, though, he got another chance. Englishby rushed out to scoop up the ball, but the Trinidad native found a way to make his second effort worthwhile with an almost impossible horizontal cross to the left side of the net for his fourth score of the season.
Duke's 3-0 lead put Campbell back off its Camel-toes and showed the fruits of the Blue Devils' new 4-3-3 formation. With the defense decimated by injuries, the offensive look has given Cila and his fellow forwards room to maneuver, even with crafty senior Trevor Perea out last night from a red card suspension.
"I think everyone likes playing with the new style," said Cila, who assisted all three goals to continue his hot scoring streak and take the team assist lead with seven. "It was kind of installed out of necessity, but it's going to put a lot of pressure on tough teams like UVa, Wake and Clemson."
Duke head coach John Rennie agreed that his new plan was best for the moment, "as long as the defense holds up" without his star stalwarts, most notably sophomore Matt White, who will train this week to prepare for Sunday's contest at Virginia.
The back three took another hit last night when freshman standout Ryan Kerlew got a blow to the head on a Campbell drive, crumbling to the ground with a concussion. With confusion around the net, Duke defender Joe Kelly slid to try to clear the ball outside of the net, only to send a rocket over the right shoulder of his team's keeper for an own-goal, the most Campbell could manage for the game.
Their players hobbling around the field through a sloppier second half, the Blue Devils laid back, took a breath and thanked the schedule gods for a really easy night.
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