Chris Loftus has been so good this season, his coach laughs just thinking about it
The Blue Devil co-captain netted two goals in the second half of Duke's 3-1 win over Longwood (2-6-1) Tuesday night at Koskinen Stadium to boost his total to eight in as many games.
Head coach John Rennie chuckled and shook his head when asked about his midfielder's recent tear.
"You don't explain why somebody is scoring a lot of goals or why somebody is not scoring a lot of goals," Rennie said. "Chris is just on a streak where he is not only finding scoring opportunities but also finishing them."
The Blue Devils (6-1-1) came out strong in the first half, dominating possession while completely shutting down the Lancers' offense. Longwood's offense was so futile in the first half that the Lancers did not attempt a single shot.
"I think we were in a little better shape than they were," Loftus said. "When we get the ball and we move it around and let the ball do the work, that's absolutely the difference, because when we do that it's hard for them to keep up."
The Blue Devils scored their first goal when defender Danny Miller lofted a high cross to a wide-open Spencer Wadsworth in the middle of the box. The forward easily headed the ball just inside the left post for his third goal of the season.
The Duke offense was unrelenting, as the Blue Devils pelted Longwood goalkeeper Brandt Youmans with 12 shots in the first half. Despite Duke's offensive onslaught in the opening period, the score remained 1-0 after 45 minutes, as only four of the Blue Devils' shots were on target.
Duke had trouble finding the back of the net throughout the game. The Blue Devils took 20 shots-10 on goal-and scored just three goals.
"It's not good enough," Loftus said of the Blue Devils' inability to score despite the plethora of shots. "If you put [shots] on goal, that's the main thing, but to have 20 and only three go in-we'll work that out before we go to B.C. and try to put some more goals in the back of the net."
The Blue Devils scored their second goal when Tomek Charowski and Wadsworth sliced through the Longwood defense, and Wadsworth hit a sprinting Loftus at the top of the box. The junior hammered a shot home for his seventh goal of the season.
After the Lancers responded with a goal off a free kick in the 62nd minute, Loftus quickly collected his eighth goal of the season when he sailed a weak shot at Youmans that embarrassingly sailed through the goalkeeper's expectant arms, capping the scoring at 3-1.
"I couldn't believe it went in," Loftus said of his second goal.
Wadsworth said the team may not have brought as much intensity for Tuesday's game as it has for some of its other, more highly-anticipated matchups.
"We say to ourselves that we have to prepare the same way as if we're playing like a Maryland," Wadsworth said. "We just try our hardest to make it seem like we're playing a good team."
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