After scoring Duke’s game-clinching goal Sunday in the 84th minute, senior captain Josh Bienenfeld triumphantly jogged back toward the Blue Devils’ bench, arms outstretched and head bobbing the whole way.
He and his Duke teammates certainly had reason to live up the moment—his left-footed strike ensured that the Blue Devils would start the season on a three-game winning streak after winning both games of this weekend’s Duke/Nike Classic.
After defeating Columbia 2-1 Friday, the Blue Devils (3-0) used Bienefeld’s goal to help them finish the weekend strong with a 2-0 victory over Denver (0-2) at Koskinen Stadium.
“You always try to go in thinking you’re going to score, but sometimes it doesn’t go your way,” Bienefeld said. “It’s great to finally have a finish pretty early on in the season... The celebration was spur of the moment. In practice our goals don’t count if we don’t celebrate, so I had to give it a little extra.”
For the first two-thirds of the match Denver goalkeeper Joe Willis kept Duke from doing any dancing. The St. Louis, Mo. native commanded his penalty area, using his 6-foot-5 frame to rise above the Blue Devil forwards and catch nearly every cross sent in.
“We had some good openings, and [Willis] had some crucial saves to keep them in the game,” head coach John Kerr said. “If he doesn’t, we go on to win the game by two, three or four goals.”
Willis’ most spectacular effort came near the end of the first half. Duke junior Cole Grossman lined up a shot from 15 yards out, but the Pioneers’ keeper sprawled across the face of the goal to tap it wide.
In the 69th minute, however, the Blue Devil midfielder would have his revenge. Freshman Ryan Finley crossed the ball in from the right wing, finding Grossman in the middle of the box. He brought the ball down skillfully and pounded it into the back of the net—finally breaking the scoreless tie and sending Duke on its way to victory.
“Once you get a goal ahead in a game like this with the heat, things seem to fall your way,” Kerr said. “We had to wait a lot longer than we wanted to wait for it, but once we did, we knew we were going to be on top.”
The play of Duke’s back four made it easy for Kerr to be confident. Denver managed only one shot on goal the entire match, a 25-yard free kick that freshman goalkeeper James Belshaw caught easily.
Senior center back Christian Ibeagha led Duke’s defensive effort, earning a spot on the all-tournament team. It seemed that every time Denver sent a ball into the Blue Devil zone, Ibeagha rose above all challengers to head the ball clear.
“That was part of the things we’ve been working on with him all spring and training, maximizing his strength,” Kerr said. “He’s really good at heading balls away back there.”
Such a strong defensive presence was crucial in front of Belshaw, who marked his first career start with a shutout in goal.
“He came in during preseason and proved himself,” Ibeagha said. “The whole time having him behind me, I felt comfortable on the field.”
Sunday’s victory came on the heels of a far less comfortable win Friday night over Columbia (0-2). The Lions jumped on top early when junior forward Bayo Adafin put away a rebound in the 16th minute, giving his team a surprising 1-0 lead.
“I thought we caught a [tough] break in the first portion of the game and we didn’t recover quick enough,” Kerr said. “They caught us on a break and they scored and they deserved that goal. Then they made life difficult for us.”
Awakened by the early deficit, the Duke offense intensified its effort and brought waves of attackers at the Columbia defense. In the 27th minute, this pressure earned the Blue Devils a corner kick. Sophomore Christopher Tweed-Kent registered his first assist of the season when Matthew Thomas headed home his cross, tying the game.
Carrying the momentum from Thomas’ equalizer into the second half, Duke wasted little time in pulling ahead. After a shot from Grossman struck a Blue Devil in the penalty area, Finley fired the loose ball past the Lion keeper, putting Duke ahead for good.
“At the half we went in with instructions to bring the ball forward quicker and be a little more direct,” Kerr said. “Scoring that goal pretty early in the second half really helped our confidence.”
And if Duke can build its confidence with these two wins, fans at Koskinen Stadium could see the Blue Devils’ well-practiced celebrations all season long.
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