Coming off a 4-1 trouncing at the hands of defending national champion Notre Dame, Duke will have to do something it has yet to do all season Tuesday night if it wants to keep its postseason dreams alive—win on the road.
The Blue Devils will face in-state opponent Elon Tuesday at Rudd Field in Elon, N.C. at 7 p.m. The Phoenix are unbeaten in their last four games and boast a 4-1-1 home record. For Duke to have any hope of making the ACC tournament, they Blue Devils will need to turn things around sooner rather than later.
Lost in the midst of No. 11 Notre Dame’s rout of Duke (5-7-1) was the return of senior captain Sean Davis and freshman midfielder Cameron Moseley. Davis started and played 89 minutes, and Moseley came off the bench and contributed 25 of his own.
The Blue Devils will need all the offensive firepower they can get as they prepare to make a late push for the postseason. That push, however, will have to start with earning their first road victory this year. Posting a 0-5 record away from Koskinen Stadium thus far, Duke has scrounged together only three goals in those games—far below their season average of 1.69 goals per game. Senior Nick Palodichuk and sophomore Brody Huitema—the team’s second and third leading scorers—should be able to come up big for the team and make some more plays now with Davis and Moseley back on the pitch to open up the offense.
Elon midfielder James Brace paces his team with six goals, four of which were game-winners. The Blue Devils will need to contain him and be careful not to fall into another series of defensive lapses like they did last game.
Against Notre Dame, Duke gave up two goals to its leading scorer—Patrick Hodan—in two minutes and dug its own grave. As a unit, Elon (7-4-3)—which is averaging 1.21 goals per game—is not as dangerous as the Fighting Irish offense but seeing as it has outscored its opponents 9-1 in the last three contests, the Blue Devils will not take them lightly.
Defensively, the Phoenix have been stout. Starring on the back end, senior goalkeeper Nathan Dean notched his eighth shutout of the year Saturday against Drexel. Dean has played every minute this year, allowing a mere 0.75 goals per game and notching 40 saves.
On the other hand, Duke’s defense has been porous of late, allowing 11 goals goals during its current four-game slump. The Blue Devils are allowing 2.00 goals per game for the year.
With just three games left in the season following Tuesday’s tilt, the Blue Devils will need to start a late-season run against Elon if they hope to crash the NCAA tournament.
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