It had been 20 days and over 250 minutes of play since Duke last celebrated a goal in front of its home crowd.
In the end, it took a bit of luck to get the Blue Devils back on the scoreboard.
Michael Videira knocked home a low, lining corner kick from the foot of Zach Pope in the 76th minute to lift Duke (7-1-1, 2-0-1 in the ACC) to a 1-0 victory over visiting Boston College (4-4-0, 1-2-0) Saturday night at Koskinen Stadium.
"It's a character kind of win, 1-0, to get the shutout against a great team," head coach John Rennie said. "We wanted to win, they wanted to win. It was just a lot of effort out there."
The fifth-ranked Blue Devils came into the game attempting to rebound from a stunning 1-0 loss to UNC-Wilmington Tuesday night-the team's first loss to an unranked, non-conference opponent in almost three years. Duke had also been shut out at home a week earlier in a scoreless tie with Virginia Tech.
The Blue Devils did little in the first half to assuage fears that scoring had become a problem. They were unable to create many good scoring chances, with their best opportunity coming on a Joe Germanese shot in the 13th minute.
Duke started to apply more pressure on the Eagle defense after the intermission but didn't break through until the 76th minute. Pope, having just re-entered the game, sent a slicing cross from the corner into a crowded box. Videira got enough of his foot on the ball for it to pass the line before BC goalie Issey Maholo knocked it back out.
"I don't know exactly how it ended up happening," Videira said. "We kind of both went for it at the same time, I got a little more of it, and it went in.. Once we got that one, it was a little bit of relief."
Rennie added that the goal wasn't "one for the highlight tape."
Lost amid the concern for the Blue Devil offense has been the increasingly stellar play of the defense and goaltender Justin Papadakis. Papadakis, a junior, recorded his third shutout of the season and second in his last three starts.
The defense limited Eagle standout Charlie Davies, who had six goals in BC's first seven games, to just one shot on goal. Davies entered the game leading the ACC with an average of almost six shots per game.
"Charlie Davies is a great player," Papadakis said. "Graham [Dugoni] and Timmy [Jepson] did a good job doubling him and not letting him turn."
Duke has allowed just two goals in its past four games, allowing the Blue Devils to post a 2-1-1 mark despite scoring only three times in that span.
"Our back four is the best in the country," Papadakis said. "They work so hard in practice. They really understand the game."
The Blue Devils will go back on the road Friday when they travel to College Park, Md. to take on defending national champion Maryland, currently ranked sixth in the nation.
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