Davidson Falls Just Short in Upset Bid, Loses 2-0 Decision to No. 21 Duke

Tuesday, September 16

Durham, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

1-5-0

No. 21 Duke

4-2-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Davidson	0	0	0
Duke	1	1	2

Davidson Falls Just Short in Upset Bid, Loses 2-0 Decision to No. 21 Duke

9/16/2008 10:43:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Matt Harris - Assistant SID

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 for much of 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 just get it across the goal line, as determined by the linesman, before any Davidson players could clear the ball out of the goal mouth.

The Cats' best chance in the first half came when Alex Caskey played a pentrating pass through the Duke defense to Machel Turner. It was Turner against the Duke keeper, and the shot by the Junior striker from Kingston, Jamaica was saved.

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, 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's go out and try and get the tying goal', and I think we did. Right away, we were getting some good chances and had Duke on their heels.”

Duke (4-2-0) put in an insurance score with just under eight minutes remaining, with the goal coming off a cross with the goal coming off a cross from National Player of the Year candidate Mike Grella, right in front of the box, that was slipped into the back of the net by Joseph Pak, making the score 2-0.

"Grella is a great player, and one of our primary aims was to contain him and not have him score," Spear said. "His assist was a special play, but otherwise we did a good job to neutralize his scoring opportunities."

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 shrugged their shoulders. We re-emphasized this goal at halftime and told them at the end of the game tonight we don't want to have any doubt - and for the second half, our energy, fight, and scoring chances as a result were superior to Duke's."

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. 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.