Following a disappointing 1-0 loss to Georgetown Tuesday evening, the Blue Devils will look to snap a two-game losing streak in their ACC home opener.
No. 9 Duke will host Boston College Friday at 7 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium hoping to get back on track and boost confidence entering the heart of conference play. After a nine-day layoff due to Hurricane Florence the Blue Devils appeared to have lost their rhythm against Georgetown Tuesday. Lackluster play led to a Hoya goal in the sixth minute, which Duke was unable to counter throughout the game.
Despite losing its second straight contest, Blue Devil head coach John Kerr felt there were a lot of positive takeaways from his squad's performance.
“We were a little rusty having only played one game in 20 days. It was difficult to shake off the cobwebs, but I thought our response to the poor first half was excellent,” Kerr said. “The way [Duke] came out in the second half, got a hold of the ball, and did a much better job of possession, was pleasing.”
The Blue Devils (3-2-0, 0-1-0 in the ACC) went down fighting despite Georgetown's unexpected change of game plan. A change in formation from the Hoyas' normal 4-4-2 led to issues in the midfield because of the addition of an additional forward. This especially took a toll on Duke with injuries to starting midfielders Brandon Williamson and Kevin Feucht. According to Kerr, the two are fairly likely to return against the Eagles, which would add essential midfield and up-front presences going into ACC play that simply were not there Tuesday.
While Duke misjudged Georgetown’s formation initially, it was quick to catch its errors and learn from them coming out of the locker room for the second half. With an overload on offense for the Hoyas, the Blue Devils adapted to their formation by turning defense into offense, giving them sufficient opportunities to score.
“I thought at times, our ability to move from our defensive third into the attacking third was phenomenal. Our two wide players, Issa Rayyan and Max Moser, were excellent and caused a lot of problems for Georgetown,” Kerr said.
Duke will need to convert if it wants to come away with a victory against Boston College (2-1-3, 1-1-0). Due to the long layoff, the Blue Devils have not scored since defeating San Diego 4-1 Aug. 31, and even the hot hand of Duke’s leading scorer, junior midfielder Daniele Proch—who punched in a total of five goals in Duke’s first three victories—has subsided. Kerr attributed the cold streak to the Blue Devils’ inability to finish plays in front of the goal.
“As a unit, we have to play better. We had some good offensive moments last night against Georgetown, but we didn’t capitalize,” Kerr said. “The same thing happened against Louisville—we had some moments after they scored where we responded well, but we just didn’t have the quality or the hand to score or to finish.”
Duke will face a team with a plethora of offensive weapons. For the Eagles, senior forward Simon Enstrom has scored a total of six goals in six matches and Boston College collectively boasts a 39.7 percent shot on goal percentage.
Despite their recent struggles, the Blue Devils enter Friday's matchup poised and confident.
“We’re looking for positive moments," Kerr said. "I feel that even though we did lose the game, we learned a lot about ourselves and we faced a lot of adversity, and I think we’ll respond well Friday night.... We know it’s an important game, and we feel we’ll be in much better shape to be ready for that game than we were against Georgetown.”
Following Duke’s clash with Boston College, the Blue Devils will host George Washington Sep. 25 at 7 p.m.
Correction: This article has been updated to say the Blue Devils' last goal was scored Aug. 31 against San Diego.
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