Last night’s contest versus UNC-Wilmington was Duke’s first trip away from Koskinen Stadium this season, and the Blue Devils’ first road game was a success.
Sophomore striker Ryan Finley scored early for Duke and sophomore keeper James Belshaw held on for the shutout as the Blue Devils defeated the Seahawks 1-0.
No. 11 Duke (3-1-2) faced one of the best keepers in the nation in senior Brock Duckworth, who hadn’t given up a goal at home for UNC-W (4-2) all year prior to the contest. The Blue Devils also had to contend with a hostile crowd for the first time.
“They had a great crowd out there, it’s a difficult place to play, and not a lot of teams are going to go there and beat them,” head coach John Kerr said. “UNC-Wilmington is a difficult team to break down, so coming on the road for our first away game and getting a shutout was crucial.”
After the game was relatively even early on, senior midfielder Cole Grossman won possession in the middle and found an opening in the Seahawk defense, playing the ball to Finley down the left side. Finley found himself alone with Duckworth.
“Cole just played a great ball in, and then just one-on-one with the keeper. [Grossman and junior midfielder Chris Tweed-Kent] pretty much made the play and I was just on the end and finished. Those two did all the hard work,” Finley said.
“You definitely want to get off to a good start, so when you get the first goal early in the half, it’s a confidence boost for your team.”
Finley’s goal in the 22nd minute was his eighth of the season, making him the nation’s scoring leader.
“I couldn’t do it without my team so I owe them a huge shout out for making it possible to score goals,” Finley said. “It’s important to not only see the stats but also the guys behind the scenes who are doing the dirty work.”
Defensively, the Blue Devils continued their strong play. Belshaw earned his third shutout of the season, recording two saves.
UNC-W pelted Duke with six shots in the second half and almost scored from a free kick around 35 yards out with just under 16 minutes left.
But even after sending several men forward in the final 10 minutes, the Seahawks could not find an equalizer.
The back line was also boosted by the return of freshman defender Sebastien Ibeagha, playing in his first game since suffering a leg injury in the season opener against Louisville. The return of Ibeagha not only solidifies the defense, but offers Kerr more freedom to use talented sophomore Andrew Wenger in different places on the field.
“Everyone wants to know what we’re going to do with Wenger,” laughed Kerr. “We haven’t exactly decided what we’re gong to do but Sebastian will definitely be playing in back there. He played very, very well tonight.”
The Blue Devils now return home to resume ACC play. While satisfied with the performance of his team in its first road test, Kerr realizes there’s room for improvement during conference play.
“We played OK, but not great,” Kerr said. “We know we can do a lot better and we’ll move on to our big game Friday against Boston College.”
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