Blue Devils Drop Overtime Heartbreaker to Davidson

Tuesday, October 14

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Davidson

Duke Resumes ACC Play with Boston College Friday

Blue Devils Drop Overtime Heartbreaker to Davidson

10/14/2014 10:38:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C.—Davidson's Alan Reiter posted his team-best fifth goal of the game 4:44 into the first overtime to lift the Wildcats to a 2-1 victory over Duke in non-conference men's soccer action this evening at Koskinen Stadium. The loss was the first for the Blue Devils at home.

Matt Slotnick tallied Duke's goal in the first half, his second of the year, but a penalty kick from Davidson (6-1-3) midway through the second half knotted the score to force overtime. Reiter proved to be the hero for the Wildcats as Davidson garnered another come-from-behind win.

"It's a disappointing loss for us because for about 50 to 60 minutes of the game I thought we did very well," head coach John Kerr said. "We started slow traditionally as we do. After we scored we picked up our confidence and all of a sudden are firing on all cylinders. It was unfortunate that we didn't get the elusive second goal because we were really flying at the time."

Duke (5-6-1) got off to a bit of a slow start, but started to build momentum in going forward 20 minutes into the stanza. Despite not having a dangerous chance at goal, the Blue Devils appeared to have the upper hand and in the 33rd minute they took it with a goal from Slotnick.

After having come on in the 27th minute, the senior made his impact felt just minutes later with the game's first goal. Brian White started the scoring play with a pass from the middle of the field over to rookie defender Markus Fjørtoft on the right side. The Norwegian right back took a few dribbles and served a perfect ball to the far post where Slotnick headed it past Davidson goalie Matt Pacifici for the 1-0 lead.

Sensing an opportunity to put the game away, Duke upped its intensity in search of the important second tally. Freshman Cody Brinkman nearly made it 2-0 with a rifle from 18 yards that Pacifici barely tipped over the bar in the 35th minute. The Blue Devils created various other opportunities, but Davidson's defense held strong to head into the locker room trailing just 1-0.

The Wildcats, having scored 12 of their 14 goals on the season in the second half, upped its tempo in the second half and put the Blue Devils on their heels for a bit. Duke started the second period well, but Davidson started to get momentum and nearly evened the score a couple of times.

Duke's defense did well to weather Davidson's pressure until the 71st minute when a Blue Devil got whistled for a foul in the penalty area. Shana MacNamara stepped up for Davidson and finished the penalty kick to tie the game 1-1 with 19:42 remaining.

Both teams created their fair share of opportunities in the final 15 minutes. Slotnick nearly got his second in the 81st minute when his right-footed shot flew just over the crossbar. Bryson Asher and Jeremy Ebobisse also were pests for the Blue Devils, but were just not quite able to connect as the teams headed into overtime.

The Blue Devils had the early advantage in the overtime, earning a corner kick four minutes into the period. Pacifici was able to pull in the service from Palodichuk and the Wildcats quickly went the other way.

Attacking down the left side, Maxi Pragnell got the ball just inside the left side of the penalty box and slotted it back to Reiter, who ripped it past Ohaus for the win.

Ohaus finished with five saves, while Pacifici had to make seven. Both teams finished with 17 shots apiece. Duke held a 6-2 advantage on corner kicks.

The Blue Devils return to Koskinen in just three days against No. 11 Notre Dame. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m., on RSN.