Although Andrew Wenger seems to play a role in every Duke goal, the Blue Devils are gradually proving that it is not all about the star striker.
Unbeaten in its last six games behind a more-balanced offensive attack, Duke (5-4-1) will look to continue its strong play at home against N.C. State (4-5-2) Friday at 7 p.m.
Dating back to their emphatic win over Clemson three weeks ago, eight different Blue Devils have found the back of the net.
“We had a tough start of the season in terms of results,” head coach John Kerr said, “but we knew we were playing well. We knew if we stuck to our guns and played with a little more heart, we’d be able to finish off the chances that we’ve been creating, and that’s happened.”
Duke has scored 20 goals to its opponents’ eight in the team’s last six matches, outshooting their opponents 51-31. Despite these impressive numbers, the Duke coaching staff still feels that there is room for improvement.
“We know Wenger’s always going to find himself space,” Kerr said, ”The question is, can we get more runners going into that space and make it more accessible to score? In the past couple of games, we’ve had [Nick] Palodichuk score six goals. We’d also like to get Chris Tweed-Kent and [Rob] Dolot more involvement on the offensive end.”
The recent string of wins has also allowed the Blue Devils to focus on tightening up its defense, which has struggled with individual marking at times. With the offense consistently scoring goals, the backline has been given freedom to try different strategies, culminating in Duke’s second shutout of the season in Tuesday night’s 1-0 win over Davidson.
Despite these promising signs, the Blue Devils will be challenged in their game against N.C. State. Under the direction of new head coach Kelly Findley, the Wolfpack has already beaten then-No. 8 SMU and then-No. 13 Boston College earlier this season.
Left back Gbange Makinde was red carded during last week’s 1-0 overtime loss to Campbell, and will miss Friday’s match.
The Wolfpack have outperformed the Blue Devils in recent years, with two wins and one tie in the teams’ last three matchups. This will undoubtedly be a motivating factor for both coaches, as their teams get set for another tough ACC match.
“It’s going to be a hard game,” Kerr said. “We haven’t beaten N.C. State since I’ve been in charge, so there’s going to be extra focus on making sure we get the result we want.”
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