Finley and Grossman Lead Blue Devils Past Wildcats

Tuesday, October 5

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Davidson

Grossman Invited to 2011 adidas MLS Player Combine

Finley and Grossman Lead Blue Devils Past Wildcats

10/5/2010 10:06:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-The tandem of sophomore Ryan Finley and senior Cole Grossman combined for 10 points to lead the Duke University men's soccer team to a 4-1 victory over non-conference foe Davidson College this evening at Koskinen Stadium. Finley and Grossman both registered two goals and an assist apiece.

Duke improves to 5-2-3 overall on the year, while Davidson falls to 4-4-3 on the season. The win pushes the Blue Devils' home record to 16-2-2 in the past 20 contests and to 4-1-2 overall this season. Christopher Tweed-Kent registered a career-high two assists in the contest to push his season total to four.

"I think for us we create a lot of chances with our pressure defensively," Grossman said. "We definitely created a lot of opportunities with offensive movement, but when our pressure defensively is really strong all over the field we can overpower teams. Sometimes when our pressure's not there we struggle to win the ball back to create chances."

The Blue Devils controlled possession throughout much of the first half. In search of an early score, Duke pressured the Wildcats in all thirds of the field and was able to get some early looks on goal. In the 23rd minute, Duke broke through with the game's first tally. After a shot off the foot of Tweed-Kent was blocked, Finley swept in and collected the rebound and knocked it past Davidson goalie Chip Sanders.

"This is a very important game for us," head coach John Kerr said. "We needed to get a good start to the game and I thought we did really well. We scored the first goal and I thought we were playing well, moving well and attacking well."

Trailing by a goal, the Wildcats came right back and started to put the Blue Devils on their heels. Davidson created a few good scoring opportunities, but Duke's backline was able to pull together and keep the ball out of the back of its net.

Just minutes before halftime, Finley struck again as he took a through ball from Grossman and executed with precision a one-on-one with Sanders and slipped the ball into the net. The goal was Finley's 10th of the year and marked his third multiple goal game.

"We got a little sloppy after scoring the goal believe it or not and allowed them some space and they took advantage and had a couple of near misses," Kerr said. "Then the second goal gave us a little more confidence and in the second half we came out go re-organized and scored the third goal early to put the game away."

With a 2-0 lead after 45 minutes action, Duke did not take its foot off the gas pedal. The Blue Devils continued to pressure the ball in all thirds of the field. After great individual work from Andrew Wenger to earn a corner kick, Finley stepped up and served a ball to the near post. Grossman timed a run perfectly and got just enough of the ball with his head to direct it past Sanders for a 3-0 lead with 39:08 to play.

Grossman closed out the scoring in the 76th minute when he picked up a rebound off a blocked shot from Tweed-Kent and slotted the ball into the goal. The five points for Grossman matches his career high.

The Wildcats continued to fight and were able to get on the board 36 seconds remaining. Alex Caskey broke loose in the left side of the penalty area off a pass from Greg Macnamara and floated the ball over Duke goaltender Nick Tsipis to make it a 4-1 final score.

Duke held a 17-9 advantage in shots and an 8-4 edge in corner kicks. James Belshaw made five stops for the Blue Devils in 80 minutes of action, while Sanders had three saves.

The Blue Devils return to the ACC on Friday, Oct. 8 at NC State. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., at the Dail Soccer Field.

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