After giving up three goals in its opening regular season game, the Duke defense was on a mission last night against Furman. By posting a shutout on the road, the revamped back line got its first win as a unit.
Lifted by a 16th-minute goal by sophomore defender Sebastian Ibeagha, the Blue Devils defeated the Paladins 1-0 last night at Stone Soccer Stadium in Greenville, S.C.
“We had been working on set pieces with Sebastian because he’s so talented and can really jump,” Duke head coach John Kerr said. “Andrew Morales sent a great corner in and Sebastian met it to slam it home.”
Delivering the key corner, the freshman Morales rewarded the coaches for giving him his second consecutive start in the midfield. Fellow freshmen Nick Palodichuk and Riley Wolfe also started for the second consecutive game and were joined by freshman Nat Eggleston, who came off the bench in the Blue Devils’ opener against UNC-Greensboro on Friday.
Eggleston’s infusion of energy into the defense and Morales’ key cross were instrumental in pulling out the victory.
“Morales had another spectacular game in the center midfield,” Kerr said. “With everyone contributing and everyone playing their part, we’re getting better each day.”
As solid as the defense was, it was the expert play of goalkeeper James Belshaw that kept Duke in the game. He grabbed eight saves, including a few in the earlygoing when the Paladins had much of the offensive momentum. Furman goalie Alec Kann had three saves on the night.
Although the Paladins gained a few more chances toward the end of the half, the Blue Devil defense remained tight-knit and refused to let their opponents put in a goal.
“They put on the pressure from the get-go, but we expected that,” Belshaw said. “Friday night definitely wasn’t our best performance and we came together well after working on a few things this weekend.”
In the second half, Duke had to deal with some defensive adversity in order to maintain its lead. After receiving a yellow card in the first half, Ibeagha received his second in the 70th minute, and with a red card was forced to leave the game. According to NCAA soccer rules, Ibeagha will have to sit out in the team’s next game, Friday against No. 14 UC Santa Barbara.
Leading by only a one goal margin and playing a man down, reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year Andrew Wenger moved away from striker and into the backfield where he played the last two seasons.
“It’s very comforting because Andrew is so adaptable,” Kerr said. “Right away he knew he had to go and organize things in the back.”
The Blue Devils now head back to Durham to kick off their home schedule this Friday in the Duke/Nike Classic, where they hope their defense can continue to produce the way it did last night. And with the early-season adjustments to the defensive alignment adjustments, more time is only a good thing.
“We’ve got two guys playing left back and right back who are out of their natural positions,” Belshaw said. “We’ve been working on it the past few days, especially since Friday, and now we feel they can achieve what we want them to.”
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