It was a beautiful night at Koskinen stadium. Spires of pink light pierced through an overcast sky, as if trying to stave off the rain that would undoubtedly fall. Perfect soccer weather. The rain took its time, as did the Blue Devils. Halfway through, they were knotted with Howard at zero. By game’s end, it was 10-0 Duke.
As head coach John Kerr so aptly noted: “it was a game of two halves.”
Following seven straight games that were decided by a goal or fewer, the No. 11-ranked Blue Devils put on an offensive clinic. Imposing as they looked early on, Howard simply did not have the legs to weather 90 minutes of unceasing pressure.
It was the Blue Devils (6-2-4, 2-1-3 in the ACC), however, who were on the verge of conceding first as play progressed in the first 45. The Bison (1-7-3, 1-1-1 in the NEC) were methodical in their counterattacks, finding their wingers quickly and making defenders miss. In one such case, Howard winger Bryson Baker slipped in behind the Duke line and received a through ball, and was sprung on the breakaway. One-on-one with keeper Wessel Speel on the left side of the box, Baker fired off a bullet toward Speel’s right, forcing an incredible save out of the graduate transfer. It was a save worthy of high praise from Kerr: “It didn’t allow them to get any momentum. If they had scored in the first half it would have been a more tricky game.”
The Bison didn’t score, though, and the Blue Devils came out of the locker room ready to make them pay for it. From the kickoff, Duke was knocking on the door. The ball was consistently in and around Howard’s box, and the forwards’ masterful high press was on full display. “It’s an attitude. It’s an approach. It’s something that we’re good at, when we put our minds to it,” Kerr said.
It only took four minutes for the first domino to fall, as the Blue Devils’ continued hounding finally bore fruit. Graduate midfielder Luke Thomas stood just outside the eighteen-yard box and delivered a strike aimed at the Bison defense. The shot glanced off a body, ricocheting beyond a confused goalkeeper and giving Duke a 1-0 lead. Mere minutes later, a fortuitous bounce allowed sophomore Ulfur Bjornsson to double the advantage. From then on, it was all Blue Devils.
Junior Drew Kerr put the game on ice by inducing the own goal that would be Duke’s third, effectively sapping all life from an already reeling Howard squad. In what was ostensibly a cross, Drew Kerr whipped a curler from way outside the eighteen, and a slight redirection slotted it into the bottom left while the keeper could do nothing but watch. The deficit was, at this point, insurmountable. Even so, there were seven goals to come.
During this onslaught of scoring, two Blue Devils netted their firsts. Freshman midfielder Julius Suber connected with Cameron Kerr on a slick one-two, ultimately smashing one into the lower left corner. A few minutes later, Cameron Kerr curled in a corner, one which was found by sophomore Andrew Myerson who directed it beyond the line.
Duke was dominating. Any criticism for its lack of production in the first half was completely turned on its head in the second. The team scored ten goals on seventeen shots in the last 45, nigh unbelievable efficiency. In response to this, coach Kerr flatly stated: “We have good players.” And indeed they do.
In spite of the lopsided result, Duke’s play was hardly without faults. The Blue Devils had a lion’s share of the possession in the first half, but found themselves unable to convert in the attacking third.
“You have to take responsibility in and around the box,” Kerr said. “In the first half, we didn’t put the goalkeeper under any pressure.” Be it through one of their four corners, or an incisive cross through the six-yard box, Duke’s attackers frequently found the ball at their feet in sure scoring positions. And yet, the half ended 0-0.
Kerr believes that the confidence gained through this fixture will serve his team well as it prepares for tournament play. “It certainly helps … We want to position ourselves to try and get a good spot. It was good to get a W.”
The Blue Devils will hope to ride this momentum into their next match, another home game against Queens Tuesday.
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