From a wet and rainy Koskinen Stadium to the cooler climate of Boston, the weather conditions have become another one of the opponents Duke will have to take on to secure a second ACC victory.
After recovering from a narrow loss to rival North Carolina last weekend with a tough 2-1 victory over non-conference foe UNC-Wilmington in the heavy rain Tuesday, Duke returns to action in the ACC against Boston College tonight at the Newton Campus Soccer Complex at 7 p.m.
The No. 12 Blue Devils (5-1-0, 1-1-0 in the ACC) look to keep the momentum going against a strong Eagle team that is currently on a three-game winning streak, including a win over then-No. 14 Boston University.
“It will be a very difficult game,” head coach John Kerr said. “They are a good, talented team playing with a lot of confidence, and we will have our hands full.”
Boston College (4-3-0, 0-1-0), although unranked, will nonetheless have the crowd and the climate on its side.
“We are heading into a tough environment,” Kerr said. “There will be a lot of crazy fans up there. It will also be a bit colder than what we’re used to. We’re going to have to be ready for the conditions.”
Fresh off of a double-overtime win over UNC-Wilmington, Duke will be looking to improve on its distribution and its finishing. This was also stressed in the team’s final training session before departing for New England.
“We need to be positive in the attacking third, make hard runs across the box and get good balls in from wide positions,” Kerr said. “Our execution has got to improve. Even though we created a lot of chances against Wilmington, I feel like we weren’t taking our chances enough.”
In the corresponding matchup last year, Duke came away with a narrow 1-0 win with a goal from Mike Grella—now at Leeds United—in the second extra period.
After two double-overtime victories already this season, the Blue Devils are oozing with confidence at the thought of another overtime contest.
“Overtime is something we look forward to if we have to go there,” Kerr said. “We’ve shown we can be successful in overtime this year, and we’ll be ready for it.”
With six games left on the ACC schedule, including tough matchups against highly ranked rivals Maryland and Wake Forest, Duke will be hoping to get a positive result from this game.
“Every ACC game is a big game,” Kerr said. “If we can go away from home and take some points, we’ll be happy.”
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