As a part of Virginia Tech’s annual homecoming celebration, a parade marches through campus and downtown Blacksburg, Va., while fireworks ring out overhead. This year’s celebration coincided with Duke’s trip to Thompson Field, where these light shows could be heard and seen ripping across the sky for much of the second half of the ACC showdown. Below them, the Blue Devils and the Hokies kept their offensive firepower silent through the match's first frame, until a 53rd-minute strike by junior midfielder Drew Kerr split the game wide open moments after the halftime break to bring the fireworks inside the soccer stadium.
Friday night, No. 10 Duke overtook Virginia Tech 1-0, continuing its undefeated road record and tallying its fourth straight shutout in a row.
A scoreless first half is a position head coach John Kerr’s squad must feel comfortable with at this point. Of Duke’s 15 unanswered goals scored in its last two games, all have come in the second half. Moreover, the Blue Devils (8-2-4, 3-1-3 in the ACC) have outscored their opponents 36-9 in second frames this season. With 80% of its goals happening after halftime, this group deserves the name “second-half team” in every sense of the phrase.
It was no surprise, then, when the Blue Devils exited the halftime break looking like a new team. Duke wasted no time creating chances; graduate midfielder Luke Thomas took an early shot, though Virginia Tech goalkeeper Cooper Wenzel got in its way. Soon after, the Blue Devils earned the right opportunity: A through ball from junior defender Kamran Acito to classmate Drew Kerr allowed the midfielder to gain just enough time to deliver one to the top left corner, and Duke went up 1-0.
After that first goal, the Blue Devils had few more chances to score. Duke only recorded two shots on the net for the entirety of the second half.
The Hokies, on the other hand, were just getting started with their offensive opportunities. Several times during the second half, Virginia Tech (7-5-2, 1-5-1 in the ACC) forced the Blue Devil defense to its heels, as multiple Hokie attackers crowded Duke’s box, praying one strike would enter the back of the net. These chances didn’t rattle graduate goalkeeper Wessel Speel, however — the Dutch transfer tallied four saves in the second half and earned his fourth-straight clean sheet.
At one point, it felt as if the Hokies bombarded the Duke goalkeeper and backline with shots as frequently as the fireworks popped overhead, and not a single strike crossed the goal line. With Speel on the ground, Acito was forced to make a goalline save, stopping the potential equalizer and saving Speel’s clean sheet.
None of Virginia Tech’s second-half shots reached the back of the Duke net, and the game clock made its way down to zero with the Blue Devils up one.
Coming off their impressive 15-0 goal differential through their last two games, the Blue Devils traveled to Blacksburg with significant offensive momentum. In fact, Duke entered its 7th ACC matchup as the highest-scoring team in the country, averaging over 3.5 goals a game. In an effort to slow their visitor’s goal-scoring streak, the Hokies decided to start the match with a 5-3-2 formation.
The scheme seemed to be working early, as the Blue Devils earned only a single corner kick in the first half. Neither team was able to generate any sort of offense in the game’s first 45 minutes: Virginia Tech recorded only two shots and, of Duke’s five, not a single was on net. For much of the first period, the ball bounced around the midfield, as neither team could gain any significant chunk of possession to create scoring opportunities. The half ended in a 0-0 lock.
Lucky for Duke that it’s a second-half team.
The Blue Devils come back to Koskinen Stadium Tuesday to take on Longwood before their final game of the regular season, Friday against Notre Dame.
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