The seventh-ranked Duke men’s soccer team pushed its win streak to double digits with a 3-0 midweek victory over Appalachian State at Koskinen Stadium Wednesday.
The in-state matchup, sandwiched between important ACC games against Maryland and North Carolina, featured dominance on both ends by the Blue Devils. Duke (10-0) started early, attacking the Mountaineers’ net (4-4) using the entire width of the field. But Appalachian State countered, creating numerous scoring opportunities off free kicks.
The Mountaineers prevented Duke from playing the ball through the middle of the field, but the Blue Devils adjusted by advancing the ball down the sides. Duke netted the first goal when Nigi Adogwa headed home Kyle Helton’s blocked cross in the 19th minute.
“They pushed up and left a lot of space for us to play to,” head coach John Rennie said. “We have good speed on the flanks so we could capitalize.”
The Blue Devils’ attack was energetic as defenders Danny Miller and Kyle Helton repeatedly fed balls over the Appalachian State defense. Both Spencer Wadsworth and Michael Videira had early shots via the counterattack.
Duke struck the back of the net again in the 45th minute when Tomek Charowski kicked in Zachary Pope’s cross after a sliding Wadsworth narrowly missed the ball. Videira was also credited with an assist on the play after sending a pass to Pope in the corner. The fast-attacking forwards created chances with their repeated runs.
“The energy was there from every player on the field,” Adogwa said. “We had a lot of fresh legs.”
The final Blue Devil score came in the 58th minute when Kramer recovered a blocked Duke corner kick and slammed a left-footed shot into the upper 90, just past the diving Mountaineer keeper Philip Cavicchia. The Blue Devils held a big advantage on corner kicks, taking 10 compared to Appalachian State’s 4. Kramer, Duke’s points leader, now has 16 points on the season after a goal and an assist Wednesday.
Seniors Justin Trowbridge and Mark Valdez combined for the shutout, and Trowbridge played all but 18 minutes and recorded all of Duke’s six saves. Appalachian State controlled the ball for the first 10 minutes of the match but only mustered one shot on goal as the Duke defense stifled most chances.
“We’re just sticking to what we’ve been good at so far,” said Miller, whose team knocked off then-No. 1 Maryland Saturday in College Park. “We really don’t want to change anything right now.”
The Mountaineers created 15 shots, but most were taken outside the 18-yard box. Appalachian State’s forwards had chances early after several Duke fouls gave the visiting team free kicks near the Blue Devils’ goal.
In the 24th minute, Trowbridge corralled an Appalachian State header by Raphael Jones on a free kick. Eight minutes later, Trowbridge again faced a free kick near the Duke goal but the shot sailed wide. The closest the Mountaineers came to scoring was in the 69th minute, when Naeem Frederick’s free kick hit the Blue Devil wall, was deflected by a soaring Trowbridge and ricocheted off the crossbar, only to sputter away from the net.
The first half ended with a flourish as Duke barely missed a scoring chance at the buzzer. Cavicchia caught a high ball but collided with a teammate and lost control of the ball. A Mountaineer defender at the goal line blocked Charowski’s shot off the rebound, but time expired before a Blue Devil could capitalize as the goal lay open.
After topping three North Carolina schools this season, Duke will try to continue its dominance of the state when the team squares off against North Carolina at Koskinen Stadium at 7 pm Sunday.
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