Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men’s soccer team fell to Duke 2-0 to close out the 2014 regular season at Thompson Field on Friday night.
“We did well in possession. We made a couple mistakes and they penalized us for it. On the bright side, we are the No. 9 seed in the tournament and we’re getting ready to play next week in the ACC tournament,” explained head coach Mike Brizendine.
Despite the loss, the Hokies (7-7-2, 2-5-1 ACC) still qualified for the 10-team ACC Tournament while Duke (8-8-1, 4-4-0 ACC) also earned a spot in the tournament with the win. Tech was able to outshoot the Blue Devils 12-10 while Duke held a slight 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Duke had the early opportunities tallying a few quality shots that forced freshman goalkeeper Ben Lundgaard to make a pair of saves in the first 16 minutes of the match.
In the 20th minute of the match, Duke broke the deadlock when the Blue Devils’ Brody Huitema received a ball from Matt Slotnick in the box. Huitema hit the ball first time and slotted it into the net to make the score 1-0 in favor of Duke.
The Hokies got a chance of their own in the 26th minute. Freshman Collin Verfurth hit a ball into Ricardo John from the right side of the box. John put the ball in the net but the goal was disallowed on a controversial call to keep Duke in the lead.
Both Duke and Tech exchanged chances back and forth but neither team was able to put another in the back of the net before halftime. At the break, Duke led 7-4 in shots and Lundgaard posted four saves.
The Hokies came out of the break desperate for a goal. Tech got a quality opportunity in the 49th minute of the match. Merlin Baus hit a free kick that was saved by the Duke goalkeeper. Ricardo John picked up the rebound and hit another powerful shot but quick reflexes from Duke’s keeper thwarted the attempt.
A little over 10 minutes later, Duke was able to get another goal off of a counter attack in the 62nd minute. The Blue Devils’ Brody Huitema sent a low cross to Brian White who slotted it into the goal to make the score 2-0.
The Hokies continued to push forward in the final minutes of the match. Sophomore Alessandro Mion hit a shot in the 88th minute that went just a foot above the cross bar.
In the second half, Tech outshot Duke 8-3 and Lundgaard did not make a single save.
Tech will have to wait to determine its ACC Tournament opponent. Check back for more details.