The Homecoming crowd at Koskinen Stadium witnessed a blowout Friday night—but not in favor of the home faithful.
Playing its third game in seven days, Duke was routed by No. 9 Notre Dame 4-1 in a key ACC matchup. The loss marks the fourth consecutive defeat for the Blue Devils—the last two of which have come at home—and leaves the team winless in the month of October.
“It’s disappointing,” head coach John Kerr said. “Hopefully we’ll learn from the mistakes and keep progressing, but it’s tough to take at the moment because it’s disappointing. We played so well and got nothing from it.”
For the opening portion of the first half, it looked like exactly the type of game the Blue Devils wanted against the Fighting Irish (8-3-2, 4-1-1 in the ACC). Duke (5-7-1, 2-4-0) was able to slow down play, possess the ball and build numerous opportunities out of the back. The Blue Devil offense registered the first five shots of the game and put a lot of pressure on the Notre Dame defense and goalkeeper Patrick Wall. Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they could not take advantage of their chances and failed to record a goal in the half.
Although the Notre Dame offense did not capitalize on its own early opportunities in the front third, the Fighting Irish ramped up their attack in the final 15 minutes of the period. Notre Dame registered its first shot with 10:40 remaining in the half, and would not look back from there. In the 37th minute the second shot from the Fighting Irish found the back of the net. Running in on the goal, junior midfielder Evan Panken made the score 1-0, guiding the ball into the back left corner of the net off a cross from forward Leon Brown.
Despite the promising offensive start, the Blue Devils would allow four consecutive shots from Notre Dame to end the half, and headed into the locker room down a goal—a familiar position for Duke this season.
“We did great in the first half. We were very calm on the ball and possessed it well and had some poise in the final third. We didn’t execute, that’s the bugging thing that we have,” Kerr said. “We had a couple half-chances but we didn’t really look as dangerous as we need to be, and then we got punished for one mistake defensively in the first half and they got a goal out of it.”
There would be no second-half comeback in store for Duke, however, as the Fighting Irish offensive attack awakened in the final 45 minutes.
Coming out of the locker room with a much more aggressive assault, Notre Dame looked like the squad that captured the national championship last season. Looking to stretch the lead, midfielder Patrick Hodan scored twice to put the game out of reach. In the 60th minute Hodan took advantage of a Duke defensive breakdown—going one-on-one with goalkeeper Joe Ohaus—and slid the ball into the net.
Just two minutes later, Hodan struck again. The junior picked his way through the Blue Devil defense unassisted—shifting the ball from foot-to-foot as he split several Duke defenders—and scored with a strong shot lined between the pipes.
“I think [Notre Dame] picked it up. They’re a team that kind of lulls you to sleep in the first half...and they pick it up in the second half,” Kerr said.
Usually a second half team themselves, the Blue Devils were not able to stay true to form, and could not muster the comeback after falling behind 3-0. The offense could not keep the ball, made poor decisions moving into the attacking third and, as frustration set in, committed unnecessary fouls. Duke was whistled for five fouls in the second half compared to zero against Notre Dame.
In the 78th minute, however, it looked as if the Blue Devils might be able to capture a little momentum for the last 10 minutes, as sophomore Brody Huitema guided the ball into the back of the net off of a deflection, with an assist from his classmate Seo-in Kim. But the Duke defense was caught off guard just 32 seconds later, when Notre Dame freshman Jon Gallagher beat Ohaus from six yards out to make the score 4-1.
“The promising thing was that we kept playing. We kept trying, we got a goal back, and we made it interesting, and then the kicker is letting that fourth goal in, which was a very soft goal,” Kerr said.
Despite the outcome of the game, the Blue Devils found a silver lining in the return to the starting lineup of senior captain Sean Davis—who had been sidelined by a leg injury—and freshman leading goal-scorer Cameron Moseley, who played 25 minutes coming off the bench. Although their efforts were not enough to come away with the victory, having two of its key players back in the lineup will be a building block for Duke's final four games of the season.
“[I am] feeling pretty good,” Davis said. “I’m not as fit or as sharp as I’d like to be but it’s just a blessing to be out there and fighting with the team. I’m just happy to be back and trying to help the team out in any way I can.”
With the support of Davis and Moseley, the Blue Devils will look to right the ship Tuesday as they travel to Elon to take on the Phoenix in a nonconference matchup at 7 p.m.
“You have to have a short memory and you have to bounce back. I believe in this team. I know the guys are working hard," Davis said. “[We] will do what we need to do to come out as sharp as possible on Tuesday and hopefully carry some momentum going into the weekend. It’s going to be a test as every game is in this part of the season, but we’re looking to bounce back against Elon.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.