On Senior Night at Koskinen Stadium, the Blue Devil underclassmen stole the show as No. 16 Duke (12-4-0, 4-3-0 in the ACC) routed Virginia Tech 4-1. The Hokies (5-10-2, 2-5-0) became the Blue Devils’ fifth victim in as many games.
After consecutive Senior Night losses in 2007 and 2008, the Blue Devils were determined to send their seniors off with a victory. In the final regular season home contest for Josh Bienenfeld, Michael Burdick, Trae Harrison, Jordan Lewis, Ryan McDaniel, Eduardo Meza and Matt Thomas, the Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.
In the 16th minute freshman Andrew Wenger fired a shot from 25 yards that Virginia Tech goalkeeper Stefan Caulfield saved but could not contain. In a play representative of Duke’s game-long hustle, Daniel Tweed-Kent literally ran over his defender to finish the play, blasting a high shot into the net. Five minutes later Tweed-Kent struck again, earning his first career multi-goal game. The Blue Devils worked the ball left to right across the field with some nifty ball handling from Cole Grossman and Ryan Finley. Finley threaded the ball to the streaking Tweed-Kent just inside the penalty box, and he promptly snuck the ball between the goalkeeper and the near post.
“In the beginning of the game we talked about defense, offense and transitions as things we need to focus on. Every time I could make a run to be the extra man I tried to just run as hard as I could,” Tweed-Kent said. “[The coaches] said, ‘Just give it your all while you’re out there and if you need a sub [because] you can’t run anymore, then you come off.’”
However, the Hokies struck back quickly with a goal in the 22nd minute. Charlie Campbell finished a long free kick into the box with a header as Duke goalkeeper James Belshaw could only watch in frustration.
Duke answered 15 minutes later. Sophomore Ryan Ruffing fought his way from the right corner towards the goal box, where he fed Temi Molinar, who promptly knocked the ball home.
The rest of the period saw even more chances for the Blue Devils, but they were unable to further stretch their lead before halftime.
Duke was able to cement its victory early in the second half, though. Finley fought his way down the left sideline and then towards the middle, where he sent a cross into the box that Nick Sih finished in spectacular fashion, crushing the ball past the helpless Hokie goalkeeper.
“I thought we had a good performance,” head coach John Kerr said. “We had a couple of periods where we were kind of lulled, but we got off to a good start. We talked about getting in good positions to score, and it was evident tonight in all four goals.”
With such a dominating show, Kerr was able to play all of his seniors for most of the second half. With five minutes remaining, he took the senior starters out to a standing ovation from the Duke crowd. For the remaining time, the Blue Devil bench remained on its feet in celebration of both the important ACC victory and its departing players.
“I really couldn’t ask for anything more from every single player on the team,” Bienenfeld, a senior, said. “Everybody gave it their all, and it was unbelievable to win in our last home game of the regular season. It’s obviously the day you never think will come when you join the program, and it’s here today. This day’s going to come for everyone, and it comes by fast.”
After the game, Kerr shot over to the scorer’s table to check on the progress of the Maryland-Virginia contest, a crucial game in Duke’s quest for an ACC regular-season title. The game ended in a draw.
With the victory and a tie between Maryland and Virginia, Duke moves into a tie for fourth place in the ACC with Boston College. The Blue Devils sit two points behind first-place Maryland, making this Friday’s regular-season conclusion against Wake Forest of vital importance.