Graduate student Jared Rist grew up a die-hard Blue Devil fan, and with the game on the line, the Durham local stepped up to seal the deal for his childhood team against the desperate Hokies on a memorable Senior Night.
With just 10 minutes left and the score tied at 1-1, Duke received a free kick on the right side of the field. Senior captain Zach Mathers sent a curving ball from right to left into the goal box. Shielding his defender, Rist dove and connected, sending the ball into the the lower left corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
Rist's header gave Duke a 2-1 win against Virginia Tech Friday night at Koskinen Stadium for the Blue Devils' 10th win of the season, their most since 2011. Sophomore forward Jeremy Ebobisse scored early to put Duke ahead, but the Hokies—fighting for a last-minute spot in the ACC tournament—tied the score just before halftime. The Blue Devils quickly gathered themselves in the second half, and Rist’s decisive goal brought a happy ending to the last regular-season home contest for Duke's eight seniors and graduate students.
“It feels awesome,” Rist said. “Having all the friends and families here, even more so today because it was [Senior Night]…. It was a really big game and we had to find a way to get it. I am happy [the ball] was able to come off my head but I knew the team was going to keep pushing until someone got [the goal].”
Virginia Tech (5-9-3, 0-5-3 in the ACC) set the tone early in the first half with its aggressive midfield tackling, preventing the Blue Devils from getting into a comfortable offensive rhythm. After about 10 minutes, Duke (10-6-2, 3-4-1) adjusted to the style of its opponent and looked for opportunities for quick-hit counter-attacks.
The strategy worked in the 12th minute when junior forward Brody Huitema lofted the ball toward the sprinting Mathers on the right flank, and the Keller, Texas, native crossed the ball to the middle. Ebobisse galloped in from behind to tap the ball into the net and put Duke on the board.
But trailing by one goal seemed to bring out the best in the Hokies. For the rest of the first half, they tested Blue Devil goalkeeper Mitch Kupstas with shots from distance and forced Duke into nine fouls. On the other end of the pitch, Virginia Tech retreated to defense quickly to close off any window for counter-attacks.
In the 40th minute, Hokie forward Som Essomé advanced all the way to Duke’s penalty box and forwarded the ball to sophomore midfielder Collin Verfurth. Facing Kupstas one-on-one, Verfurth stuck the ball into the upper right corner of the net and evened the score.
“We didn’t play the best first half,” Mathers said. “We were up 1-0 [and] we kind of gave that goal in the end [of the first half]. I think our confidence was high. We knew if we played our style, we would get the goal.”
Although the Hokies continued their high-pressure style coming out of the locker room, Duke created several scoring opportunities but could not capitalize on any of them. One of the best chances came in the 49th minute, when Hokie goalkeeper Morten Lamps left the net to cut off Mathers' passing lane on the left sideline. But the senior navigated around the keeper and crossed the ball to an empty net. Ebobisse was inches away from getting his second goal of the match, but his defender played tight coverage and stopped him from reaching the ball.
“It was a little nerve-racking,” Duke head coach John Kerr said. “At one point when they equalized to make it 1-1, we were very anxious to try to get this game [in hand]. 1-1 was kind of scary for a while and then we regrouped and we were pressing in the second half. Then it was just a matter of time [until] we scored the next goal.”
The Blue Devils outshot the Hokies 11-6 in the second half and forced 11 fouls. Lamps—who entered the match averaging 3.8 saves per contest—blocked multiple promising shots from Duke attackers, including a strong header from Huitema right at the edge of the goal box and two tricky free kicks from Mathers. But there was nothing he could do with Rist’s game-winner.
After getting the win, Duke earned the right to host Louisville in the opening round of the ACC tournament Wednesday night.
“We didn’t play badly in the first half,” Kerr said. “[We] just didn’t capitalize on our movement and we were a bit lackluster in front of the goal. But we picked up the intensity in the second half. There was only going to be one winner tonight, and that was going to be us.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.