A Kyle Helton goal with 15 minutes remaining gave the Blue Devils a 3-1 advantage and preserved their undefeated streak. East Carolina tried to contain the Blue Devils' attack, and although the Pirates limited Duke's scoring chances, the Blue Devils were still able to must three goals.
Duke defender Kyle Helton ran with out-stretched arms toward his sideline. His 30-yard shot following a failed East Carolina clear had just skimmed along the ground and into the left corner of the net. Helton’s celebration and the goal, which put Duke up 3-1, sent a message: The Pirates may have ended the No. 13 Blue Devils’ shutout streak at seven games, but they would not terminate Duke’s eight-game winning streak.
“Those are the hardest to stop whenever somebody takes a shot like that,” Helton said of his goal. “Immediately after, I just wanted to come back over into the guys on the sideline and make sure they were involved and try to get the team pumped up as much as possible.”
Duke’s 3-2 victory Wednesday night at Koskinen Stadium over a less-talented but energetic East Carolina (3-4) team was an exercise in survival for the Blue Devils (8-0). The game was close throughout, but the tension peaked when the Pirates pulled to within one goal with three minutes remaining. Head coach John Rennie, despite describing the win as “ugly,” was pleased with his team’s ability to come away with a victory.
“Playing these mid-week games in between conference games is very, very difficult,” Rennie said. “We played an inspired team, we held them off, we scored enough goals we didn’t play our best game... but any time you see a team, a win is a win.”
East Carolina employed a strategy similar to the one used by Campbell and several other teams against Duke this season. The Pirates packed 10 players in the defensive end to congest the Blue Devil offense and kept one player far upfield at all times for a quick counter attack. Rennie said East Carolina’s game plan successfully slowed the Duke attack and limited solid scoring opportunities.
“You have to go over the top a lot, or get it wide, so it wasn’t a very pretty game,” Rennie said. “It makes it hard to get behind the defense, it makes it hard to score goals.... Our chances were more of crosses, and early in the first half we had a ton of them, but we didn’t finish any.”
The Blue Devils’ only first half goal resulted from an East Carolina miscue. Duke received an indirect free kick after Pirates goalkeeper Brian Pope mistakenly picked up a ball passed back from a teammate. Duke midfielder Paul Dudley passed the ball across the top of the 18-yard box to Chris Loftus who knocked the ball into the corner of the net. The goal gave Duke a one-goal advantage only 13 minutes into the game.
The Pirates would strike back 20 minutes later, ending the Blue Devils’ seven-game shutout streak. Goalkeeper Justin Papadakis misplayed a pass from a teammate, allowing East Carolina forward J. W. Gallagher to streak in and tie the game.
“I play the ball a lot with my feet and it was my mistake,” said Papadakis, who got a rare start as Justin Trowbridge took the night off. “It was disappointing [to see the scoreless streak end], but the main thing is we keep the wins going.”
The Blue Devils bounced back and regained the lead on freshman midfielder Tomek Charowski’s penalty kick goal. Freshman Zachary Pope drew the penalty after carrying the ball into the 18-yard box on a give-and-go with forward Spencer Wadsworth. On the free kick, Charowski aimed toward the middle of the net, gambling that the East Carolina goalkeeper would dive to one side. The wager paid off, as Charowski netted his second goal of the season to put the Blue Devils ahead for good.
“We just wanted to make this game like a building block, we didn’t expect to go all season without getting scored on,” Helton said. “We just wanted to get the win here tonight and get ready for Maryland on Saturday.”
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