Wednesday night�s soccer game men�s soccer game was Duke� season opener, but it sure seemed like another exhibition. The Blue Devils rolled over the Emory & Henry 10-0, dominating possession throughout the game. Duke poured it on late with six goals in the final 23 minutes.
In Wednesday night’s home opener against Emory & Henry, the men’s soccer team trampled the Wasps 10-0, scoring eight goals in the second half. After tying two ranked teams in the preseason, last night’s game only reaffirmed Duke’s (1-0) growing confidence.
Sophomore Chris Loftus recorded his first career hat trick and junior Blake Camp added two goals and an assist in the winning effort. Three players had multiple-goal games, and 21 Blue Devils saw the field.
“Every time we get out there and can get some touches on the ball, it’s going to be a confidence builder for all of us,” Loftus said. “We get on the same page, and we knew this was kind of a practice game where we get to know each other on the field. Once we get more comfortable with each other, the confidence will just get higher and higher.”
A Division III team in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, the Wasps (0-1) were overmatched by Duke’s athleticism. Although Emory & Henry came out relatively strong to begin the game, it could not keep up with the Blue Devils when Duke exploited their inferior depth.
“[Emory & Henry] gave everything they had in the first half and got tired,” head coach John Rennie said. “So when [we] put fresh legs in the game, they tend to be more effective because they’re playing against tired guys. Our first team against their first team in the first half was not a bad game. They played a very good game, but they just got worn down.”
The Wasps were only able to fire a couple of shots on Duke’s net—the Blue Devils, on the other hand, posted 18 in the first half. Only two of those first-half shots got past Emory & Henry goalie Robert Andrews, who played a strong game with 13 saves.
“I think there was probably a little bit of nervousness, this being our first regular season game,” Camp said. “Since it actually counted for something, everybody probably had some butterflies in their stomachs.”
Duke’s first goal came in the fifth minute when Emory & Henry fouled a Blue Devil in the box. Nigi Adogwa took the penalty kick and gave Duke the early lead. Although the Blue Devils maintained control of the game, the score remained 1-0 until the 38th minute when Loftus, guarded closely by a defender, put a shot into the left corner of the net.
After the half, the Wasps seemed to have regained a little intensity, aggressively attacking the ball; but they wore out when a livelier and quicker Duke team began its scoring rampage. Paul Dudley, Danny Kramer, Josh Swank, Camp and Loftus all netted goals for the Blue Devils. Duke blew the game open with six goals in the final 23 minutes. A handful of freshmen also tallied points as Michael Videira, Tomek Charowski and Spencer Wadsworth each had assists.
“The most important thing we accomplished [in this game] was finally getting into a rhythm where we started scoring some goals,” Camp said. “We only had one goal [that wasn’t a penalty kick] in the preseason, so this game definitely helped.”
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