Duke will look to stay unbeaten at home and kick start its offense in its ACC home opener.
In search of its first conference win of the season, the Blue Devils host Virginia Tech Friday at Koskinen Stadium at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils will be looking to make it two wins in a row, as a Nick Palodichuk goal was enough to help them defeat Georgia Southern 1-0 Tuesday.
“It’s a big game for us, it’s a home game in the ACC,” head coach John Kerr said. “We have to match their intensity and make sure we’re on our toes.”
Virginia Tech (2-1, 1-0 in the ACC) comes in to this game following an overtime win against then-No. 15 Syracuse. The Hokies grabbed an equalizer with five minutes of regulation time remaining and then scored an overtime winner to complete the upset. Kai Marshall, who scored the game-winner, also claimed the Co-ACC Player of the Week honors to complete a successful stretch for Virginia Tech.
“Virginia Tech is coming off a really big win at home last weekend against Syracuse in a comeback win,” Kerr said. “So they’re going to be on a bit of a high, and they have some really talented players.”
Both teams’ defenses will not make it any easier to score goals. The Blue Devils (2-1-1, 0-1) have allowed only four opposition goals this season, and the Hokies have allowed just three.
Like Duke, the Hokies have struggled to score goals this season. Virginia Tech has just four goals in three games despite averaging 16 shots per game. Duke has five goals in four games, averaging 17.3 shots a game.
Kerr said that even though his team found the back of the net just once in the 1-0 win against the Eagles, the Blue Devils made strides on the offensive end that may come in handy against the Hokies.
“[Against Georgia Southern] our movement on the ball was much better,” Kerr said. “Our approach to the goal in the final third was more direct and a little bit more moving in terms of getting into spaces to be dangerous. We have some good play in the wings and some great balls across and we just have to get on the end of those crosses and finish off the play.”
For Duke, Palodichuk could make a difference in the midfield. The junior scored his first goal of the season against Georgia Southern and looks healthy after being sidelined for much of last season with an ankle injury. If he can regain the form from his freshman season, when he was voted to the All-ACC second team, Duke’s offense could receive a much-needed boost.
Alongside Palodichuk, Kerr said that he hopes other members of the Blue Devil attack will step up and contribute in the team's first ACC tilt.
“We still haven’t seen the best of Brody Huitema as well, because he can score goals," Kerr said. "Once those guys start finding goals for us, we are going to be in great shape.”
One player who stood out in Duke's last game was goalkeeper Alex Long. The graduate student in his first season with Duke made a career-high eight saves, including a critical play with 15 seconds left to preserve his second shutout of the season.
“It was a great performance—to bounce back from what wasn’t his best game on Friday night,” Kerr said. “And we finished off the game with a shutout so I’m proud of him, happy for him and happy for our team.”
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