Although the Blue Devils have yet to earn a victory on the road, the timely return of their best player could reverse that winless Friday night.
Bolstered by the return of senior captain Sean Davis from a leg injury, Duke will take on No. 8 Virginia at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils will try and play spoiler to the Cavaliers in hopes of moving above .500 in ACC play.
“Virginia is always a difficult place to play,” head coach John Kerr said. “It’s another massive challenge ahead of us. It seems that all of our away games are really hard opponents, so it’s never easy but we’re going to keep plugging away.”
The Virginia contest will feature the return of midfielder Davis, who has been sidelined with a leg injury since the Blue Devils’ Sept. 26 matchup against Boston College. Davis, a Soccer America and Top Drawer Soccer Best XI preseason pick and former ACC player of the week, is one of Duke’s most potent offensive weapons as well as key mentor and motivator for the young team. Kerr expects to see Davis return to form this weekend.
“He’s a smart guy and knows how to use his time to rest and when to step it up,” Kerr said. “His vision naturally opens up a lot of opportunities for us looking forward, and we’ve missed that in the last couple games. He’s smart in terms of his positioning so he knows where to be in order to prevent the other team from having similar openings. He’s a two-play player: that gives us a lot.”
Although the Cavaliers (7-3-1, 2-1-1 in the ACC) currently sit at the top of the Coastal Division standings, Virginia consistently struggles with offensive efficiency, notching more than 13 shots a game but managing an average of just 1.18 goal per matchup. Despite these deficiencies Virginia will bring a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s matchup. Leading the charge for the Cavaliers are forward Darius Madison, who leads the Cavaliers with three goals on the season, and midfielder Scott Thomsen, who is tied for first in assists in the ACC.
What the Cavaliers lack in offensive accuracy, they more than make up for on the other end of the field. Virginia is ranked second in the ACC in both goals allowed and shutouts. Goalkeeper Calle Brown anchors the Cavalier defense, registering 39 saves so far this season.
The Blue Devils (5-4-1, 2-2) often get off to a slow start, with victory ultimately riding on the team overcoming a first-half deficit. They will do their best to flip the script against the Cavaliers.
“The key is to get off to a good start,” Kerr said. “Most of our away games we haven’t done that, and if we can get to halftime without conceding a goal I think we’ll be in good shape. It’s important that we go into the game with our energy and our focus because we don’t want to keep having to come from behind. That’s going to be clearly in our minds as we go into the first half."
The Blue Devils will look for leadership from Davis and junior Zach Mathers to anchor the young squad and draw out increased offensive potency from younger players such as Cameron Mosley, Seo-In Kim and Brody Huitema.
“We have a really good group of strikers and we haven’t really reached our potential yet,” Kerr said. “Guys haven’t done as well as they can so far, because it’s early in their career and a lot of them are freshmen. We work on video and try and have them understand what we’re looking for.”
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