Coming off a 2-0 victory over Campbell, the Blue Devils will return to ACC play Friday for a top-20 showdown at home.
No. 17 Duke and No. 9 Notre Dame will do battle Friday evening at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils and the Fighting Irish have hit hot streaks as their regular seasons wind down to an end, and both enter Friday’s contest with seven wins, three losses and one tie.
“Similar to Virginia, Notre Dame is good on set plays,” Duke head coach John Kerr said. “That’s one of their strengths and we need to be able to deal with that as we did against Virginia.”
The Fighting Irish (7-3-1, 3-1-0 in the ACC) are on a four-game win streak, with their latest victory coming last Saturday against Louisville. They handed then-No. 6 Louisville its first ACC loss of the season in a 2-1 overtime victory.
Two of Notre Dame’s three losses have come in overtime, with a majority of its wins being by at least two goals. The team also boasts four wins against ranked opponents, outscoring them 11-2.
“They have a number of trick plays and free kicks that they do and we have to be aware of some of their habits,” Kerr said.
Duke (7-3-1, 2-2-0) is also riding a winning streak as it enters the ACC contest, with the Blue Devils winning their last three games, including a 2-0 upset against then-No. 10 Virginia.
Goalkeeper Will Pulisic is riding a streak of his own—a shutout streak of 182:15 after notching shutouts in the last two contests. This shutout streak will be put to the test by a Fighting Irish team with six players with at least two goals, and 6-foot-3 defender Patrick Berneski leading the squad with five goals.
“We’ve been focused on defense,” Kerr said. “We’ve gotten a couple shutouts in a row, which is encouraging because we had a desire to make sure we weren’t easily beaten. In the games before that, we gave up too many goals and too many opportunities to opposing teams.”
Duke’s offense will pose a similar threat for Notre Dame’s defense. While the fighting Irish have allowed only 10 goals on the season, the Blue Devil goal leader Daniele Proch has 10 just himself, with at least one goal in each of the last four contests.
As a whole, the Duke offense has 23 goals, 17 assists and 70 shots on goal. The team has scored 10 goals just in the last four games, as its offense has been more aggressive in driving to the net during the final third.
“Our movement is much better; getting to places earlier has been the key,” Kerr said. “The players are getting in sync with each other, understanding the movements and timing of getting balls to certain positions.”
With both teams on winning streaks and playing at peak performance as ACC play begins to wind down, Friday’s contest in Durham is sure to be a close, competitive game.
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