Despite maintaining possession for much of a lightning-delayed game, Duke failed to bring its own thunder to Koskinen Stadium in a scoreless tie with Clemson Friday night.
"We were dangerous for a lot of the game, but didn't have that final pass or that final shot that was going to score that goal, and that's kind of disappointing," head coach John Kerr said. "We created a lot of good offensive threats, but we didn't finish it off and that was our problem tonight."
Duke dominated the attacking end, nearly doubling Clemson's shots, but many flickered off the post or sailed past the net, and Tiger goalkeeper Joseph Bendik was forced to make seven saves.
Instead, Clemson (2-4-2, 1-1-1 in the ACC) played to slow the game down, and the Blue Devils (4-3-1, 1-1-1) neglected to challenge that style.
"We didn't force them to defend as much as we needed to. We didn't capitalize on the space and the time that we had," Kerr said.
In the 81st minute, senior midfielder Pavelid Castaneda slipped a shot into the right corner, but the goal was disallowed by an offsides call.
Kerr was forced to shuffle his lineup to cope with the loss of senior forward Mike Grella, who was suspended because of a red card he received during the team's tilt with Maryland Sept. 19.
Stepping up to the plate for Grella was sophomore Cole Grossman, who seemed primed to score the Blue Devils' first goal several times in the second overtime-but the Blue Devils' hopes were dashed on both occasions.
With 4:20 left in the extra period, Grossman fired a shot that struck the goal post. Two minutes later, he had a cross from the left roll within striking distance of the goal, but none of his teammates could position themselves to score.
With 25 minutes left in the game, Kerr made a number of substitutions to ignite his team, with Matt Thomas, Graham Oxley, Joseph Pak and Brad Ramsey joining the field. But even the fresh legs could not put the Blue Devils on the scoreboard.
"We needed a boost of energy-we played the game, particularly the first half, with a lack of real urgency and we wanted to pick that up," Kerr said.
But the Blue Devils' play was marred by sluggish transitions from offense to defense, giving Clemson some space to threaten Duke's goal.
"We need to get numbers back," senior goalkeeper Brendan Fitzgerald said. "We looked lethargic, we looked tired."
Kerr predicted many of the team's problems would blow over before Tuesday's game with Stony Brook.
"We're still a team learning. We're still a team that's coming together," Kerr said. "We're still a team trying to find our personality."
Gabe Starosta contributed to this story.
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