Last year, the Duke men's soccer team began its season 11-0 before making its run to the College Cup. St. John's crushed the Blue Devils' chances at accomplishing a similar feat Sunday after a strong second half lifted the Red Storm to a 4-1 victory in the final game of the Duke/adidas Classic.
Following a 3-2 overtime victory Friday over College of Charleston, No. 6 Duke (3-1) faced its first top-10 team of the season in No. 7 St. John's (2-1-1).
The Red Storm came out strong defensively against the Blue Devils after losing to N.C. State, 2-1, in the first game of the Classic Sept. 9.
"I told our players that I didn't think St. John's has lost two games in a row in a long, long time, and they had a lot to prove out here tonight," head coach John Rennie said.
That hunger was particularly apparent in the second half, when the Red Storm arrested all of Duke's momentum with a strong attack. Two Red Storm scoring chances were thwarted by the Duke defense in the opening minutes of the half before midfielder Matt Groenwald teed up a 20-foot shot and beat sophomore keeper Justin Papadakis to the opposite side of the net to tie the game at 1-1.
"St. John's found a way to spread us open and find some passing lanes," junior Kyle Helton said. "I think we definitely did a better job in the first half of closing those lanes down, but as the game went on they found lanes and had some good opportunities."
St. John's took the lead in the 72nd minute when Garry Lewis drilled a shot past Papadakis' out-stretched hands, putting the Blue Devils a goal behind for the first time this season.
"We're still learning to play this formation," Helton said. "We're a whole lot better now than we were at the beginning of the season. I don't think this game was very indicative of how we normally play, but we definitely have some work to do."
Papadakis finished with three saves in the first loss of his career as a starter. St. John's outshot the Blue Devils 9-5 in the second half and 12-10 for the game.
"Your whole team has to defend, and we didn't do that in the second half very well," Rennie said. "We got outplayed in the second half badly."
The first half, on the other hand, was dominated by defense as possession was mainly held in the middle third of the field.
The Blue Devils managed just five shots in the first half while the Red Storm could only muster three.
"Certainly in the first half it was a very even game," Rennie said.
Duke's starting defense, which included of Helton, junior Danny Miller, sophomore Tim Jepson and freshman Graham Dugoni, consistently denied St. John's any good scoring opportunities in the first half. The quartet allowed only one shot on goal, which Papadakis saved.
The Duke defense was also successful with its offsides trap, catching St. John's offsides seven times over the course of the game.
Junior Chris Loftus, the current team leader in points with 7, took his only shot of the game in the 36th minute, which was punched over the net by Landers. Loftus played back for most of the game in an effort to aid the defense in stopping St. John's attacks.
"That's his role," Rennie said of Loftus. "He'll get forward against teams where we have clear possession more, like against Charleston or LIU. But in games like this-his role was to be the link between defense and attack, and that's where he belongs."
The Blue Devils' were more successful against College of Charleston (2-3) Friday night, although it took extra time to decide the victor.
In the fifth minute of overtime, sophomore Spencer Wadsworth rebounded a shot by Danny Kramer's to give Duke its third win of the season.
"We were in control of the game at that point," Rennie said. "We totally took over the game in overtime, and we never had any trouble after they tied it."
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A solid Duke defense had held College of Charleston to just two shots in the first half but opened up in the second, allowing the Cougars to force their way back into the game.
"They scored two great goals in the second half, and you have to give them credit for that," Rennie said. "We had a lot of chances we didn't finish."
The Blue Devils took 12 shots in the second period but could not find the back of the net.
Duke had come out strong in the first half, and Videira recorded his first goal of the season off a pass from Helton to put Duke up 1-0 in the 12th minute. Loftus notched the second goal of the game with a 30-yard shot, his third of the year.
"We finished our chances in the first half," Rennie said. "We had a couple great scoring chances and took them."