Palodichuk Goal Lifts Duke Past Boston College

Friday, September 26

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Palodichuk Goal Lifts Duke Past Boston College

9/26/2014 10:44:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

Box Score | Highlights

DURHAM, N.C.—Duke senior Nick Palodichuk stole a page from classmate Sean Davis' book tonight as he curled a free kick around the Boston College wall in the 65th minute to lead the Blue Devils to a 1-0 win over the Eagles in ACC men's soccer action this evening at Koskinen Stadium. Duke remains unbeaten at home this season.

“I'm really pleased with the team effort,” said head coach John Kerr. “Getting a shutout is huge. I thought Joe Ohaus' decision making tonight was really strong and decisive and a great effort by the back four. I thought they were really strong and I'm really proud of them.”

For the second straight ACC game, Duke (4-3-1, 2-1-0) made its opponent pay for committing a foul 25 yards from goal. With Davis on the bench, Palodichuk, who had given Boston College fits all evening, confidently stepped into his place and perfectly curled the ball around the Eagles' wall and under the outstretched hand of Alex Kapp to put Duke up 1-0 with 25 minutes remaining. The goal was the Battleground, Wash., native's first of the year and 18th of his career.

“I was pretty excited,” Palodichuk said. “I thought this might be my chance. I'm just happy it went in. You practice it in practice all the time and that's what it's for there in the games. There's a little more pressure, it mean's something. The game's intense and you're excited to get a chance like that. I'm just happy it went in.”

Duke, behind the senior leadership of Zach Mathers and Jack Coleman in the back, posted its first shutout of the season. Ohaus made two saves for his fourth career victory.

“It feels good,” said Ohaus about posting his first shutout. “It's definitely a big step. We've been close a few times and kind of disappointed that we haven't had one. We needed one and hopefully we can keep it going.”

The first half was a game of swinging pendulum of momentum. Boston College grabbed the early edge with possession in its offensive third, but as the Blue Devils weather the storm they started to get into the attack and pose problems for the Eagles in their defensive third.

Senior Nat Eggleston just missed wide left as he slid through a service into the box, while Luis Rendon's shot from 15 yards on the right side of the penalty area was gobbled up by Kapp.

Defensively, Duke had a couple scary moments as well as Ohaus had to tip a shot over the bar. Boston College nearly converted on the ensuing corner kick, hitting the underside of the crossbar. The Eagles got the rebound on frame, but was turned away by Coleman on the line to keep the game scoreless at the half.

With eight freshmen on the field to start the second half, Duke looked to continue its trend of being a second-half team. Boston College (3-4-1, 0-3-0) had the better of play early in the half before the Blue Devils picked up their pace and started running at the Eagles' backline.

“Cody Brinkman as a young freshman getting his first opportunity to really get a lot of minutes and he did great,” Kerr said. “His tenacity, his enthusiasm and his skill level was really high tonight and I'm really pleased for him and the team.”

In the 50th minute, Ohaus made another big save, pushing wide a stellar free kick from 20 yards out. Phil Sandgren, from the left side of the penalty box, rifled a shot around Duke's six-man wall, but Ohaus was up to the task and knocked it wide of the goal to keep the shutout alive.

Duke, feeding off the play of its defense, started to take advantage of what appeared to be a tired Boston College squad and earned the decisive free kick in the 64th minute.

The Eagles, desperate for a win at 0-2-0 in conference play, did everything they could in the final 15 minutes. However, Duke for the second straight week at home refused to relinquish its lead en route to the shutout win.

“This is a momentum builder especially after a loss this week to UNC Wilmington,” Palodichuk said. “We needed this one to get our confidence back up and build momentum and carry it on in the next couple games.”

#GoDuke