After a scoreless first half, No. 11 Duke was finally able to find the back of the net—in a big way. Scoring four goals in only 6:35 of play to start the second half, the Blue Devils beat George Washington 4-0 Tuesday night at Koskinen Stadium.
Sophomore Ryan Finley was responsible for three of the goals, giving him his second hat trick of the season.
“We went into halftime knowing that sooner or later we were going to get one and the floodgates were going to open,” Finley said. “We were saying in the huddle before the second half started that we just have to go out there and be confident.”
Duke (2-0-2) controlled the first 45 minutes of the game, as the team applied pressure up top early and moved the ball with ease throughout the midfield. The Blue Devils displayed a variety of attacks, especially from the feet of Christian Ibeagha, who sent several balls over the top that nearly resulted in Duke goals.
The Colonials’ midfield, on the other hand, seemed lost for most of the first half, although they did see their chances off counterattacks that were mostly catalyzed by forward Seth Rudolf. He was also a part of one of the most impressive plays of the first half when goalkeeper James Belshaw came off of his line past the 18-yard box to clear the ball away with his head and prevent Rudolf from getting a foot on the ball.
The game went into halftime with Duke having the advantage in shots taken (11-0) and corner kicks won (4-1). Despite the dominant performance, the Blue Devils still were unable to score a goal.
Duke came out firing in the second half and managed to break the scoreless streak in the 49th minute with an unassisted goal from Ryan Finley. Then, only a minute later, the forward took advantage of a Duke clear that sailed all the way into the George Washington (1-4-0) penalty area and pounded a shot in from the edge of the six-yard box into the net.
He would score again in the 52nd minute when captain Cole Grossman threaded a ball through two defenders to Finley, who took one more touch from the left flank and fired a scorcher from the middle of the box that left the keeper with no chance.
“He’s one of those guys that doesn’t need to have a ton of chances, he’s just a natural goal scorer,” Grossman said. “He’s one of those penalty box poachers and it’s awesome having him on our team.”
The Blue Devils tacked on their fourth goal in the 54th minute off a corner kick from Grossman that found the head of Matt Thomas uncontested on the far side of the six-yard box.
With a four-goal cushion that had come in the span of seven minutes, head coach John Kerr made a number of subs, giving significant time to the likes of defender Julian McIntosh and Christian Brown, among others.
“They deserved the playing time,” Kerr said. “It’s nice to see them get some quality minutes and I thought they played very well.”
Kerr was satisfied with his team’s performance and believes his team is making the necessary strides forward at this point in the season.
“We’re in a good spot now, and a lot will come in the next few weeks,” Kerr said. “We’ve got some big games coming up, none bigger than our archrival North Carolina on Friday.”
With the Blue Devils 2-0-2, they look to keep their unbeaten streak alive in what will surely be an electric atmosphere at Koskinen against North Carolina Friday night.
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