Throughout much of their 2016 season, the Blue Devils struggled to find a consistent finisher, oftentimes threatening in the attacking third but struggling to ultimately find the back of the net.
But Brian White might be able to change that this year.
After blanking Central Florida 2-0 Friday night, the Blue Devils continued their winning streak with a 3-0 win against Fordham in the John Rennie Nike Invitational at Koskinen Stadium. Duke outshot the Rams 18-4 en route to its fifth consecutive Invitational title.
After a productive summer with the New York Red Bulls U-23 squad in which he scored 17 goals in 14 games, White led the charge for Duke. The senior midfielder commanded the tempo of the game, taking two shots in the first half and four in the second.
“He has a lot of confidence now,” Blue Devil head coach John Kerr said. “Scoring so many goals over the summer gave him the confidence to feel that he can score in any game, whether he’s playing badly or playing well. This is his senior year. He wants to make it in the pros—this is his time.”
After missing an open look with a header just wide left, White got his first goal of the season in the 52nd minute. Freshman Daniel Wright crossed to the senior Blue Devil to the left of the net, and White dribbled through Fordham’s disorganized defense straight at goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu. A fake to the right opened the frame just in time for White to find the back of the net on his third shot attempt of the night, putting Duke in front 2-0.
“[The match] was very promising,” Blue Devil head coach John Kerr said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I’m very happy with the back three and the goalkeeper. Will did a great job organizing and talking. We rode our luck at times—we had a couple of opportunities to give away goals—but luckily they didn’t capitalize. I’m happy with the overall performance and look forward to building on it.”
Shrugging off another missed clean look in the 60th minute, Duke’s 2016 Offensive Most Valuable Player made a spectacular shot in the final 10 minutes of the contest. Playing off a throw-in from sophomore Max Moser, White took a few dribbles near the right corner of the 18-yard box before striking a spectacular shot above the Rams’ defense inside the top left corner of the net, sealing the score at 3-0 in favor of the Blue Devils (2-0-0).
“I swung the player and I just looked up on goal and saw I had a shot,” White said. “I just tried to place it in the top corner.”
Although White sealed the match for Duke, the Blue Devils found an early lead thanks to sophomore Daniele Proch.
After Fordham’s Janos Loebe committed a foul in the 14th minute, Proch was granted the penalty kick, firing a shot to the left side just out of Nuhu’s reach to put Duke on the board early.
Although the Rams (0-1-1) attempted to rally back from the early deficit, Fordham’s offense went cold for most of the afternoon. Benefitting from their new 3-4-3 formation and sophomore Brandon Williamson’s transition from the wing to a center midfield position, the Blue Devils held the Rams to just four shots and one corner kick—the only shot on goal was easily deflected away by freshman goalkeeper Will Pulisic. Duke had a total of six shots on goal and seven corner kicks, keeping the pressure on Nuhu despite the junior Ram’s best efforts.
Pulisic can thank his back line trio for a relatively easy outing in Koskinen, with the trio of senior Markus Fjørtoft, freshman Matthias Frick, and senior Carter Manley keeping most of Fordham’s deep pushes at bay.
With a busy weekend behind them, the Blue Devils will return to Koskinen to play High Point Friday at 2 p.m. followed by Presbyterian Sept. 5 at 7 p.m. However, the first real test for the Blue Devils will likely come in their ACC opener against No. 17 Virginia Tech Sept. 8—Duke’s first contest against ranked opposition for the season.
“We’re very strong in the back,” White said. “As long we keep clean sheets, I think we’re going to get some goals, some shots off, and we’ll be successful.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.