Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech men’s soccer dropped a 2-0 result to Duke tonight at Thompson Field as Zach Mathers and Riley Wolfe recorded goals for the Blue Devils.
"Credit Duke, they did a good job with a couple opportunities that they had," Virginia Tech head coach Mike Brizendine said. "We weren't sharp in the attacking third. I thought we got ourselves in good positions, but the next pass to get us really dangerous, we weren't good on. We deviated from our game plan a little bit. Obviously, down a goal, we were pressing because we wanted a result and we ended up giving up a second goal."
David Fiorello had the first chance of the night for the Hokies (6-8-3, 0-6-1) as he went up for header in the 12th minute, but Duke keeper James Belshaw was there to corral the attempt.
The Blue Devils (7-7-1, 3-4-1) looked to get on the board seven minutes later with a header from Wolfe, but Renfro was there for the denial. The Hokies came right back to the other end where Drew Ranahan went in high for a header, but Belshaw was again there for the stop.
In the 29th minute, Ben Strong cracked a shot, but it sailed wide of the left post.
Duke got on the board two minutes later as Mathers got loose on a break after a through ball came out of midfield. The freshman’s initial shot was blocked by Renfro, but he buried the rebound inside the left post to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead. Duke’s Luis Rendon looked to extended their lead in the 40th minute with a high rocket shot, but Renfro went up and knocked it away.
Duke continued to pressure in the second half as Rendon ripped one toward the upper 90, but again, Renfro was able to react quickly and knock the ball out of harms way.
With Tech pushing numbers forward late, a foul was called against Duke in the 83rd minute to set up a Hokie free kick from 25 yards out. Strong was looking left, but his shot was just off the mark and wide of the post.
Duke doubled their lead in the 88th minute after catching Tech on a counterattack. Jonathan Aguirre sent in a cross to Wolfe who hit a hard shot to the far post past Renfro.
Despite Renfro’s seven saves, the third highest total of the season for him, Tech was unable to find the back of the net. Strong had the Hokies’ best opportunities on the night as he led the team with three shots. Overall, the Blue Devils outshot the Hokies 14-7.
Tech will hit the road next week for the regular season finale on Nov. 1 at Clemson. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., and the game can be seen on ESPN3.