In American history, George Washington (the person) is famous for his crossing of the Delaware River under cover of night, obscured by fog and with his foot on the bow of a small rowboat. Not coincidentally, by the Americans’ triumphant end to the Revolutionary War, that fabled crossing became synonymous with victory, overcoming the odds and challenging the status quo.
Though not as consequential to the future of global politics, one could say that No. 2 Duke’s ability to pass over George Washington (the soccer team) resembled a similar trend. Through 13 games, these Blue Devils are still unbeaten, and Tuesday evening’s 4-0 thrashing of the Colonials at a frigid Koskinen Stadium in many ways continued a season narrative that has seen many of the same trends that Washington’s crossing resembled: victory, overcoming the odds and challenging the status quo.
“[George Washington] came out with a lot of passion and fire and caused a few problems with their energy and their activity,” Duke head coach John Kerr said after the game. “They had a couple good moments in the attacking third and I thought they were a difficult opponent.”
While the Colonials are not the strongest team the Blue Devils (10-0-3) have played on paper, for long stretches, this game was anything but a gimme. For the opening 20-or-so minutes, Duke was largely pinned back in its own half or, when it found a rare attacking opportunity, uncharacteristically profligate in front of goal. Narrow misses by the likes of Jai Bean and Nick Pariano threatened to turn the contest into a nervy one for the Blue Devils, but just as he did against Notre Dame last Friday, sophomore forward Shakur Mohammed quickly stepped forward to set the score straight.
The Ghana native’s opener came just after the 40-minute mark, when Ruben Mesalles’ shifty run through the box and subsequent pass found Mohammed for the open-foot curler into the right side of the net.
“It was nice to get that goal and just have it change the mood in the dressing room,” Mohammed said. “That was helpful mentally and emotionally for all of us.”
The goal evidently was an enormous mood-boost for the Blue Devils, and from that point forth the group erupted.
Just under 20 minutes after the break, star midfielder Peter Stroud turned on the jets to steer a low cross through the box for junior midfielder Luke Thomas to turn in, leaving no chance for the Colonials’ defense or hapless goalkeeper. Shortly thereafter, a reckless challenge sent Mohammed to the penalty spot for a confident conversion into the center-left to make it 3-0, and with just a couple minutes left to play, forward Scotty Taylor connected on a cross from the left flank with a lunging toe to settle the contest at 4-0.
“We weren’t at our best in the first 20 minutes,” Kerr said. “We had to fight through it and get our momentum going. And then as we got further into the half, we got a grip of the game and created a few chances.”
The dominance Duke showed on the offensive side of the ball would not have been possible without the once-again excellent defense anchoring it. The Blue Devils lined up with a central pairing of freshmen Kamran Acito and Axel Gudbjornsson, and despite their inexperience and young age, the duo was suffocating throughout the 90 minutes. Acito in particular was ubiquitous, swarming the ball across the field and breaking up pass after pass in addition to a few excursions into midfield for the incisive through-ball.
Perhaps the greater testament to the back line’s solidity was the infrequency with which graduate goalkeeper Eliot Hamill was tasked with handling the ball. The Scarsdale, N.Y., native has excelled this season and leads the NCAA in save percentage, admitting just five goals all season—three of which came in one game, mind you—but was largely unbothered Tuesday as Acito, Gudbjornsson, Amir Daley and Ruben Mesalles pinned George Washington (6-7-2) into its own half.
That is not to say the Colonials were ineffectual. In fact, the last-second heroics of Acito and Mesalles stopped a number of one-on-one opportunities in both halves. Midway through the first half, George Washington looked certain to take the lead, only for Mesalles to dive in to block any channel at goal, closely followed by the rest of his defensive companions to shut the attack off cold.
Few expected Duke to be in this position at this point in the season, and its apparent ability to build upon each result bodes well for a beckoning rematch against Pittsburgh, to which the Blue Devils lost 3-2 in 2021. If they hope to remain atop the proverbial ACC mountain and continue their improbable shot to stardom, the Blue Devils will need the same combative, confident attitude they showed Tuesday to topple reigning Coach of the Year Jay Vidovich’s Panthers under the Friday night lights.
“Just like Notre Dame, [Duke needs to] remember the exact feeling we felt last season when we lost to [Pittsburgh] 3-2,” Mohammed said. “I'm hoping that is going to inspire us and we have a pretty good trajectory at the moment.”
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Andrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle's 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.