After reeling off 11 straight victories to start its season, the men's soccer team lost its first game of the season Saturday to Virginia Tech at home. After scoring its first goal, Virginia Tech slowed the pace of play and packed its defense into the box to prevent the high-powered Duke offense from storming back.
By the end of the game, the substitution horn was running out of air. During the last 20 minutes of play, head coach John Rennie had substituted players 18 times to stop the clock and use time to his advantage. Although No. 16 Duke kept the ball in Virginia Tech’s territory for much of the second half and fired two shots in the closing minutes, the Blue Devils could not muster a goal and lost their first game of the season, 1-0.
Duke (11-1, 3-1 in the ACC) rolled through the first part of its season with eight shutouts and is still in position to clench its best ACC finish in several years and a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils, who will try to bounce back against Georgia State today, fell from fourth to 16th in the NSCAA poll Tuesday.
Although Duke had plenty of chances to score throughout Friday’s physical game, it could not capitalize on any of the opportunities.
“We didn’t finish our chances,” Rennie said. “You obviously can’t win if you don’t score. We did a good job of creating all sorts of opportunities and we didn’t finish them.”
Duke’s best chance came in the 73rd minute, when point-leader Danny Kramer centered the ball from the left side. In front of the net, Blake Camp fired a shot, but Virginia Tech goalie Chase Harrison deflected the ball up. Paul Dudley headed the ball into the net as it came down, but was called offsides, nullifying the goal.
Despite outshooting the Hokies (6-5, 1-1) 24-6, the Blue Devils had only five shots on goal. Virginia Tech’s zone defense picked off many of Duke’s shots before they reached the goal and tight defensive pressure caused others to sail wide.
Although the Blue Devils created many opportunities, the Hokies’ defense forced Duke to move the ball around the perimeter and made it hard for the home team to find an open shot. Spencer Wadsworth was the only Duke player to get more than one shot on Harrison.
“The defenders were very focused,” forward Nigi Adogwa said. “They kept their shape and kept their line, so it was always difficult to get through the center. We had to go wide all the time and even then, when the ball came across, you had six or seven defenders there.”
The Hokies did not generate as many opportunities as the Blue Devils, but four of their six shots were on net. In the 21st minute, Bailey Allman scored the only goal of the game from 18 yards out off a rebound on a corner kick.
From that point, Virginia Tech used the clock to its advantage, taking its time with throw-ins and goal kicks. Rennie countered by making several substitutions to stop the clock as the game wound down.
After losing their first contest, the Blue Devils will be back in Koskinen Stadium tonight to play Georgia State at 7 p.m. Duke used its fall break to rest before the mid-week game.
“We have a couple days off that we badly need,” Rennie said after Friday night’s game. “We got some guys nursing injuries, and I think a couple days off will be great.”
After a break from soccer and midterms, the Blue Devils are ready to rebound from their recent loss.
“Georgia is going to be probably the toughest game of the season, only because it’s the first time we’re coming off a loss,” defender Danny Miller said. “We’re going to have to show that we’re a good team by bouncing back from a loss.”
A member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, the Panthers will come into tonight’s game hoping to improve their 6-3 record. Georgia State, however, is ninth in the NSCAA South Regional ranking behind fourth-ranked Duke.
“They’re going to be a team like [Virginia Tech],” Adogwa said. “If you keep them in the game, they can be dangerous.... It all depends on what we do.”
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