Duke entered its game Tuesday against Colgate having not allowed a goal in its previous three contests.
And despite playing without ACC Player of the Week Brendan Fitzgerald, the team managed to keep the streak alive and extend it to 386 straight minutes.
On a wintry night at Koskinen Stadium, the Blue Devils once again froze out their competition, blanking Colgate 1-0.
Freshman Jan Tranka-Amrhein filled in for Fitzgerald and came up strong for Duke (9-5-2), tallying three saves, including a spectacular one in the 18th minute. Colgate midfielder Jeff Leach unleashed a massive kick from about 20 yards out, and Tranka-Amrhein dove in the air, smacking the ball down with a resounding thud.
The Blue Devils came into the game severely undermanned on the defensive side of the ball. Fitzgerald was out with a shoulder injury sustained in a 1-0 win over Virginia Saturday, and senior captain Darrius Barnes sat on the bench after receiving a red card against the Cavaliers.
The lack of experience had head coach John Kerr scrambling to keep his defense together.
"We keep changing the numbers of our defense," Kerr said. "But they've been resilient. They play tough. This team gave us a run for our money tonight and created a lot of problems, but we defended well."
The offense had a tough time finding momentum during the game. Several fast breaks were stopped by the unyielding defense of the Raiders (8-5-3). The breakthrough goal came in the 79th minute when defender Nick Sih scored in the top left corner of the goal.
"It was a great serve by Mike Grella on the free kick," Kerr said. "Christian [Ibeagha] got himself in a great position and instead of trying to score, he decided to put it right across the box. Nick came in from a deep position and finished it off nicely with his left foot."
Colgate almost had a chance to score and send the game into overtime with seven seconds left. Colgate's Steven Miller kicked a skipping shot that was lost in a group of players before Tranka-Amrhein triumphantly dove on the ball, ending the game.
While the defense is hurting and imperfect, it remains confident in their ability to bounce back from anything.
"We bend but we don't break," said Ian Kalis, who assisted Sih's tally. "We make some mistakes, but we're able to recover."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.