Quick start powers Duke men's soccer to win against Temple

After a quiet night on the road Friday at Southern Methodist, the Blue Devil offense made a lot of noise Tuesday.

Duke seemed to find its footing in a dogfight Tuesday night, scoring twice in the first half en route to a 3-1 victory against Temple at Koskinen Stadium. The game featured three goals in the first 12 minutes but got chippy later on, as five yellow cards were handed out during the course of the match.

The contest got off to a blistering start, as Blue Devil midfielder Cameron Moseley scored a breakaway goal in the second minute of the game to give Duke a quick 1-0 edge. The freshman received a pass from classmate Jeremy Ebobisse and found himself in a one-on-one with Owl goalkeeper Dan Scheck, and was able to convert.

"[The plan was] to start off quickly," Duke head coach John Kerr said. "We wanted to play to our strengths, not theirs."

Unfortunately for the Blue Devils (2-1-1), that early advantage was neutralized less than two minutes later. Temple (1-3) quickly responded with a goal of its own in the fourth minute by forward Joonas Jokinen, who broke free off of a pass from Olli Tynkkynen and buried the ensuing one-on-one shot past Blue Devil goalkeeper Joe Ohaus.

"We allowed them to score that easy goal, almost a carbon copy of what we did to them," Kerr said.

After a couple more on-target shots by Temple, Duke broke through again in the 12th minute with a top-shelf rocket from 15 yards out by senior Jack Coleman. The midfielder received a feed from sophomore Brody Huitema and raced down the right side of the penalty box, beating his defender and handing the Blue Devils a lead they would not relinquish.

With Duke leading, the pace of the game slowed down, except for a few intermittent breakaways that were defended well by both teams. The Blue Devils outshot the Owls 13-11 for the game and tested Scheck with seven of their attempts. At the other end of the pitch, Ohaus was solid between the pipes for Duke, collecting four saves, only one of which troubled him.

Both sides played passionately, and their emotions began to boil over in the 20th minute with more physical, aggressive play. As the teams were setting up on the goal line for a Temple corner, time had to be stopped as the referee intervened to put a stop to the shoving and jockeying for position. In the 33rd minute—immediately after the referee warned both teams—Jokinen picked up a yellow card after exchanging heated words with the Blue Devil side.

Just two minutes later, Temple's Felipe Liboro and Duke's Zach Mathers picked up yellow cards of their own within seconds of one another for yelling.

Things got aggressive again after a near-goal by Moseley with time running out on the Owls. Scheck seemed to give Moseley a push as he jogged by to run back downfield, and the freshman quickly responded with a shove of his own. Soon, multiple players on both teams got into the fray, which culminated in Huitema and Owl defender Robert Sagel both picking up yellow cards.

Kerr said he was pleased with the team's overall performance, noting that though the team gave up an early goal, he was proud of the Blue Devils for getting back into the game quickly. However, during the end of the first half and the majority of the second half, he saw room for improvement in the attacking third.

"We created numerous opportunities, but we've just got to be more clinical [with our finishes]," Kerr said.

Duke begins its ACC schedule Saturday at No. 5 Louisville before returning home to face No. 3 North Carolina Sept. 19.