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Men's Soccer
vs Pitt
Tuesday, September 15
Durham, N.C.
7:00 PM
Duke University
0
vs
3
UNC Wilmington
Big Second Half Puts No. 24 UNCW Past No. 16 Duke
9/15/2015 10:07:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Box Score
DURHAM, N.C.—UNC Wilmington scored three goals in 10 minutes late in the second half to secure a 3-0 victory over Duke in top 25 non-conference men's soccer action tonight at Koskinen Stadium. The 24th-ranked Seahawks remain unbeaten at 5-0-1, while No. 16 Duke suffers its first setback of the year to drop to 4-1-1.
“[UNCW] was up for the battle and that's the key to the game,” said head coach John Kerr. “It was not too much about tactics other than they were strong to the ball and a little quicker than us. They wanted it more and it showed. It's disappointing from our perspective because we played a lot better than that this year. It's disappointing to drop our standards for this game.”
The Blue Devils got off to a bit of a slow start to the game. UNC Wilmington, pressuring the Blue Devils in all thirds of the field, nearly went ahead in the opening minutes but was unable to connect. As the half progressed, neither team was able to get into a good rhythm as they combined for just five shots and only one on frame.
Duke came out stronger in the second half and had the better of play, but was just missing that finishing touch in the box. Brian White nearly got on the end of a cross from Macario Hing-Glover on the right flank within the first two minutes before UNC Wilmington goalkeeper Sean Melvin smothered the ball as it came off of White's foot.
UNCW, despite the Blue Devils controlling the run of play for much of the half, caught Duke's defense on its heels in the 79th minute when Jordan Cordero fed Daniel Escobar in behind the backline. Escobar calmly put it away from 15 yards for the 1-0 lead.
With Duke having to press forward in search of the equalizer in the closing minutes, the Seahawks took advantage of the Blue Devils having numbers forward. UNCW drew a foul 25 yards from the goal and Ben Fisher stepped up a curled it around the wall of Duke players into the lower right corner to ice the victory in the 88th minute. Less than a minute later, UNCW added a third goal on a defensive miscue.
“We were chasing the game and we took a man out of the back and tried to put another player up front to make it more difficult for them,” Kerr said. “But it backfired and they scored the second goal and basically killed the game.”
The Seahawks had an 8-4 advantage in shots and 8-3 edge in corner kicks. Wilson Fisher made two saves for Duke, while Melvin had one stop.
The Blue Devils continue ACC play Friday night at No. 14 Clemson. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., on ESPN3.
#GoDuke
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