CARY, N.C. — The Eagles only had one shot on goal last night, but they made it count.
For the fourth season in a row, No. 19 Duke lost in the first round of the ACC Tournament, falling to Boston College 1-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park. The fourth-seeded Blue Devils entered the game looking to avenge last year’s tournament loss to the Eagles, which they lost by the same score.
“We really wanted to come out and take it to them,” junior midfielder Chris Tweed-Kent said. “For some reason, we just weren’t able to.”
No. 21 Boston College (10-3-5), seeded fifth, jumped out to an early lead in the 16th minute when junior forward Edvin Worley received an up-field pass that he played into the box. Worley threaded the ball between defenders, leaving an easy tap-in for junior forward Amit Aburmad—the Eagles’ first and only shot on goal for the entire game.
After conceding the score, Duke (9-5-4) played with a renewed sense of vigor and competed well with Boston College for the rest of the first half. With 21 minutes remaining in the period, senior Cole Grossman made a strong pass to Tweed-Kent, only to have the shot blocked by goalie Justin Luthy. Only four minutes later, the Blue Devils had another opportunity as Tweed-Kent sent a strong cross in from the corner to Ryan Finley, but the sophomore forward botched the volley.
“Against Wake, we played a lot better and executed better,” head coach John Kerr said. “We didn’t take advantage of the territorial play we had.”
Duke held the majority of possession throughout the game, with much of it coming in the Eagles’ territory. As a result, the Blue Devils finished the first half with three shots on goal to Boston College’s one.
In the second half, Duke did not relent on its pressure, continuing to play the game on Boston College’s half of the field. The Blue Devils, however, had to continue for much of the second half without Grossman, who left the field with an injury with approximately 20 minutes remaining. Grossman appeared to injure his left shin after a Boston College defender pushed him from behind. He was sent to Duke Medical Center after the game for X-rays, and his status for the rest of the season is unknown.
Still, Duke kept the Eagles on their heels by maintaining possession and trying to set up opportunities. The Blue Devils continued to outshoot Boston College, and finished with five corner kicks, while the Eagles had none.
“We didn’t execute as well as we normally do,” Kerr said. “We had a lot of the play, but we just didn’t get the important goal to even things up.”
Playing from behind appeared to be a problem for Duke. Even though the Blue Devils were able to hold possession, the Boston College defense calmly sat back and walled off the attack.
“It is tough when you give up a goal and you are playing down,” Tweed-Kent said. “Tough to play the game down, but we did the best we could, I guess.”
Now, Duke will have to watch the rest of the ACC Tournament from the sidelines. The Blue Devils will see what the rest of their season holds on Monday, when they learn who their NCAA Tournament first-round opponent will be.
“We just have to keep our heads high and move on,” Tweed-Kent said. “Things just didn’t fall for us.”
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