Duke 2, Davidson 0
DURHAM, N.C. - Despite a valiant effort from start to finish, the Davidson men's soccer team was unable to upset No. 21 Duke Tuesday night, falling 2-0 at Koskinen Stadium in Durham.
The Wildcat defense was able to withstand the offensive attacks by Duke throughout the first half, allowing just a single goal in the first 45 minutes of play. The lone score came when Duke's Kyle Bethel corralled a loose ball in front of the goal that had bounced past the Davidson (1-5-0) defense, and was able to tap it into the goal.
Down just 1-0 at the break, the Wildcats came out in the second frame firing, tripling their shot total from the first half within the first four minutes. The 'Cats were able to develop their offensive attacks using a combination of give-and-go passing and long through passes from the wings to help create space and pressure the goal.
"Coming out of halftime, I think the guys felt like they were in the game," Head Coach Matt Spear said. "Being down only one, on the road, to a ranked team, you can rally behind that. You can say 'we've got 45 minutes, let go out and try and get a goal', and I think we did. Right away, we were getting some good chances."
Duke (4-2-0) put in an insurance score with just under eight minutes remaining, with the goal coming off a cross right in front of the box, that was slipped into the back of the net by Joseph Pak, making the score 2-0.
Davidson had a chance to tie with nine minutes remaining when Robert O'Donnell played a picture-perfect crossing pass in front of the goal, but none of the Wildcat players were able to get a shot on goal. Then, with time winding down, junior Charlie Reiter fired off a shot from outside the penalty box that was just wide of the net. The never-quit attitude shown by the 'Cats was something Coach Spear stressed in preparation to the match.
"One of the goals tonight was that we wanted to out-work Duke," he said. "At halftime, we asked the guys and they kind of shrugged their shoulders, and we told them at the end of the game tonight we don't want to have any doubt"
Reiter and sophomore Yannick Pilgrim both had a team-high three shots on the night, with all three of Pilgrim's attempts finding the goal. Junior Machel Turner recorded a pair of shots off the bench, with Liam Bracken, Cameron Griffin, and O'Donnell all contributing to Davidson's 11 total shots in the match.
In goal, junior Robby Goldsberry notched a season-high eight saves, including a point-blank stop at the 22-minute mark of the second half, and numerous diving saves throughout the game.
The Wildcats will now turn their sights to their last in-season tournament of the year, when they head across town to take part in the Charlotte Nike Invitational. They will kick off the weekend on Friday evening when they face off against UAB at 5 p.m. from Charlotte's Transamerica Field.