The Blue Devils dominated possession. They controlled the run of play. But they made one mistake, and that’s all it took to find themselves on the losing end of the game.
Duke (5-7-1, 2-4-1 in the ACC) dropped a 1-0 contest to Boston College (8-4-3, 3-1-2) Friday night at Koskinen Stadium. All seven of the Blue Devils’ losses this season have been by only one goal.
“I’m not disappointed in our performance,” Duke head coach John Kerr said. “I thought we played a brilliant game tonight. We had one lapse, and they capitalized. Soccer is a cruel game that way.”
On a breakaway in the 71st minute, Eagle senior Kyle Bekker served a through ball to classmate Stefan Carter, who beat Blue Devil goalkeeper James Belshaw one-on-one to give Boston College a 1-0 lead that it would not relinquish.
“[The Eagles] are one of those counterpunch kind of teams where they just wait and wait and hit you when you’re not looking, and that’s what they did to us tonight,” Kerr said.
Duke bested Boston College in shots 16-8 and corners 6-3. Blue Devil junior Will Donovan led the way in shots with six.
“[Will] is putting himself in great positions,” Kerr said. “This is the best he’s ever played.”
Both teams generated quality looks on goal in the opening half, but Belshaw and Eagle senior goalkeeper Justin Luthy came up with saves to keep the game scoreless. Five minutes after the opening whistle, Bekker took a free kick for Boston College, but Belshaw made a diving save to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.
In the 18th minute, Duke sophomore Riley Wolfe got in the penalty box and fired a shot at goal, but Luthy stopped the attempt. Carter took the final stab at goal in the half just two minutes later, but Belshaw made his second save of the night to keep the score 0-0.
Boston College junior Chris Ager headed the ball over the goal for the first shot of the second half. In the ensuing 12 minutes, the Blue Devils took four shots and earned two corner kicks but were unable to capitalize.
“We’re obviously really threatening on corner kicks when we get the service right,” Duke freshman Ryan Thompson said. “Right now, we’re a little bit inconsistent, myself especially, on getting the service right.”
After the Eagles’ game-winning goal in the 71st minute, Duke pressed forward in search of the equalizer. The Blue Devils took six of the final eight shots, including on-target attempts by junior Sebastien Ibeagha and freshman Zach Mathers that Luthy punched just over the crossbar.
“We had several chances in their penalty area to score, but we just can’t find a way to the back of the net right now,” Kerr said. “I’m not unhappy at all with the effort, but just disappointed for the boys because they played their hearts out tonight.”
Duke returns to action this week against Davidson and Virginia Tech, which is winless in the ACC.
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