Balanced Scoring Pushes Duke Past Furman

Tuesday, October 26

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Furman

Balanced Scoring Pushes Duke Past Furman

10/26/2010 10:29:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-Duke University senior Cole Grossman tallied two goals and sophomore Christopher Tweed-Kent dished out three assists to lead the men's soccer team to a convincing 4-0 win over Furman in non-conference action this evening at Koskinen Stadium. Tweed-Kent's three assists are a career-high, while Grossman's two goals match his career best.

"As a defense tonight we tried to play short more, so we played short out of the back," Duke goalkeeper James Belshaw said. "I think overall we were more compact and tight as a unit [than in some previous games]. Communication was a lot better tonight than it was at Clemson."

The Blue Devils grabbed an early lead after 12:43 of action. Grossman earned a corner kick as his shot was blocked just wide of the net. Ryan Finley stepped up to take the corner kick and sent a ball to the far post where Andrew Wenger got his head on it. Wenger's directed the ball to Sebastien Ibeagha who headed it down to the feet of Matthew Thomas. The senior defender calmly touched the ball in from inside the six-yard box for his second goal of the year and a 1-0 Duke lead.

The Paladins nearly evened the score in the 28th minute as a shot from Josh Fusan sent a screaming shot towards the right upper 90. The ball missed by inches to keep Duke ahead 1-0.

Duke continued to press forward for the important second tally to help put away the Paladins. The Blue Devils broke through again in the 36th minute as Tweed-Kent and Grossman hooked up for the first time of the evening. Tweed-Kent sent a slotted ball across the penalty pox from the left flank and Grossman just poked it past goalkeeper Alec Kanna for a 2-0 lead with less than 10 minute remaining in the first session.

"That second goal takes some weight off of our shoulders," freshman defender Sebastien Ibeagha said. "We still have to play hard and [James Belshaw] had to bail us out towards the end, but it's always nice to have a two-goal cushion."

Unbeaten on the season when leading at the break, the Blue Devils looked to continue that trend with a 2-0 lead after 45 minutes of action. The Paladins attempted to cut into the Duke lead, but the Duke backline and Belshaw were up to the task as they posted the sixth shutout of the season.

Belshaw made his best save of the game in the 78th minute as Michael Channell got loose in the penalty area and fired a low shot on frame. The sophomore goalie quickly got to the ground to make the big stop and preserve the shutout.

Six minutes later, Duke suddenly made it a 4-0 game with goals within 29 seconds of each other. Grossman netted his second of the night at 83:40 off an assist from Tweed-Kent. Just moments later, it was Tweed-Kent getting into the mix again, finding the feet of Ryan Finley who calmly executed a one-on-one with Kann for his 14th goal of the year.

"We would have liked a little bit of a better performance tonight, but a win is a win," Belshaw said. "We'll take it and move forward. We can't stop here. We have to win the last two ACC games to put us in a better position not only in the ACC, but in a better mindset as we go on."

Tweed-Kent's three assists push his total to nine for the season, which currently leads the ACC. Finley's 14th goal ties him for eighth all-time in Duke single-season history.

The Blue Devils held a commanding 22-10 advantage in shots, allowing just two in the second half. Belshaw had four saves in the win as he and senior Nick Tsipis combined for the shutout. Kann had eight stops for the Paladins.

Duke closes out the regular season with a pair of ACC contests. The Blue Devils travel to Virginia Tech on Oct. 30 and host Wake Forest on Nov. 5. Both games kick off at 7 p.m.

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