After beginning the season with a 11-0 run, the men’s soccer team has experienced some setbacks recently.
In Sunday’s game between No. 22 Duke (13-4) and South Carolina (10-5-1), Gamecock Sebastian Lindholm rebounded a shot and scored the game’s only goal in the 62nd minute as the Blue Devils lost 1-0 at Stone Stadium.
“We still had the better of the game,” defenseman Danny Miller said. “We had a lot of great opportunities. You could say we got unlucky, but they capitalized on their opportunity and we didn’t.”
Midway through the second half, South Carolina moved the ball up the right side of the field and crossed it. Ayo Akinsete put up a shot that Duke goalie Justin Trowbridge blocked, but Sebastian Lindholm connected on the rebound and the ball reflected off the right post and into the net.
Both teams posted 14 shots in the game, which gave each plenty of scoring opportunities. The Gamecocks put up a shot a mere 23 seconds into the game, but Trowbridge knocked it down for his first of five saves. With 10 minutes left in the first half, South Carolina’s Ryan Deter received a pass from J.D. Moon and put the ball in the net for what looked to be the first goal, but the referee called him offside.
In the 51st minute, Duke’s Spencer Wadsworth, who led the team with four shots, hit the post. Then, about 15 minutes later, with his team still down by a goal, Nigi Adogwa put up a shot that grazed the crossbar.
With the loss, the Blue Devils are 2-4 in their last six games. Duke’s schedule has been more difficult in the latter half of the season since the team played more games against ranked opponents like No. 12 Maryland and No. 2 Virginia. Although the team has struggled to finish its opportunities at the net against strong opponents, the players remain optimistic.
“I think we’ve been unfortunate,” Trowbridge said. “We’ve been playing the ball well, but it has not been bouncing our way, but we’re still positive.”
All four of Duke’s losses have been by a single goal, and many of those have come late in the game. In last week’s game between the Blue Devils and Virginia, the Hokies pulled off a 4-3 overtime win with three goals in the last 10 minutes of play.
“We understand that we’re in every game that we’re losing,” Miller said. “It gives us a lot of confidence. There hasn’t been a team that has outplayed us at all. We just need to persevere through this time. If we work hard, we will get those breaks again. We have to work hard and be patient because that’s just how soccer is.”
Heading into the final regular season game and postseason tournaments, Duke is hoping to bring back its early successes.
“Now we have to regroup and refocus on the things we were doing well at the beginning in the year,” Trowbridge said. “We’re still extremely confident that we are still a good team. We will focus on playing a full 90 minutes against Wake Forest.”
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