The Blue Devils closed out their regular season Oct. 31, but Duke’s Halloween night was anything but scary.
Duke extended its winning streak to three with Friday’s 2-0 defeat of Virginia Tech at Thompson Field in Blacksburg, Va., paced by an early goal and second-half assist from sophomore forward Brody Huitema. With the victory the Blue Devils secure a home game Nov. 5 in the quarterfinal round of the ACC tournament.
In addition to ensuring that there will be at least 90 more minutes of soccer played at Koskinen Stadium this season, the 2-0 shutout marked Duke's first road win of the season. After dropping their first six games away from Durham, the Blue Devils finally got on the winning side of a road game against the Hokies.
“It was a good win for us overall," Duke head coach John Kerr said. "It's good to get Brian White on the score sheet and Brody with a goal and an assist, Wilson [Fisher] with his first shutout. It's nice to get the away win for the team. It’s huge to get this at this time of year. And it definitively gets us a home game Wednesday. We’re glad to be playing at home."
After a mid-season five-game skid, the Blue Devils have hit their stride down the stretch, concluding the regular season with quality victories over Pittsburgh, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils will be assigned either the seventh or eighth seed in the ACC tournament and will take on either Virginia or North Carolina Wednesday at Koskinen Stadium to start the postseason.
Huitema once again took the lead offensively for the Blue Devils (8-8-1, 4-4 in the ACC). The striker registered his fifth goal of the season—tying him with freshman Cameron Mosely for the team lead—in the 21st minute of Friday’s contest after receiving a ball from senior Matt Slotnick, giving the Blue Devils an early 1-0 lead. Huitema concludes the regular season with a team-best 15 points on five goals and five assists.
The Hokies’ closest opportunity to get on the scoreboard in the opening frame came in the 26th minute when Virginia Tech forward Ricardo John sent a cross into the back of the net, but the referee both ruled the goal invalid and issued John a yellow card.
Virginia Tech (7-7-2, 2-5-1) emerged from the break determined to score, sending two shots into Fisher’s hands and another just over the top of the net. After fending off the Hokies' efforts, Duke notched a second tally in the 62nd minute to put the game out of reach, when freshman Brian White scored his first career off goal of a Huitema assist.
“We played well in spurts tonight,” Kerr said. “We started out really well and then Virginia Tech had a few moments of better play. In the second half we started a little slow and it was just back and forth counter-attack soccer for a little while. It was great to get that second goal and then [Virginia Tech] stepped up the pressure, but we held on. We’ll take confidence in winning away. It’s good timing.”
Although the Blue Devils were outshot 12-10 by the Hokies, Duke made up for the deficit with offensive efficiency, as seven of the Blue Devil’s shots were on frame. On the other end of the pitch, senior goalkeeper Wilson Fisher closed his final regular season with his first career shutout, registering four saves during the course of the contest.
“Wilson made a save on a free kick early in the second half,” Kerr said. “To be honest they should have scored it because Wilson saved it and then made the save on the rebound that was easier to score. Wilson was great tonight for us.”
The regular season finale turned chippy late, as five yellow cards were handed out during the match. But the Blue Devils finally proved they are capable of winning away from home, something they will likely need to do should to keep advancing in the ACC tournament if they are able to defeat either the Cavaliers or Tar Heels Wednesday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.