Second Half Explosion Pushes Duke Past GW

Tuesday, September 14

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

George Washington

Second Half Explosion Pushes Duke Past GW

9/14/2010 10:03:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-Duke sophomore Ryan Finley tallied three goals in a span of 3:11 in the early minutes of the second half to lead the sixth-ranked Blue Devils to a 4-0 win over George Washington in non-conference men's soccer action this evening. The hat trick was Finley's second of the year.

Duke outshot George Washington 24-2 for the game, scoring four goals in 6:35 to improve to 2-0-2. The Blue Devils are 14-1-2 in their last 17 games at Koskinen Stadium. The Colonials fall to 1-4-0 overall on the year.

Senior Cole Grossman dished out three assists for the Blue Devils, while senior defender Matthew Thomas notched his first goal of the year.

"I think for us it's all about mentality, body language and mindset," Grossman said. "Tuesday night games are difficult sometimes, but one thing we pride ourselves in is the ability to treat every game the same way. We didn't really do that tonight in the first half so in the second half we really wanted to find our mentality and competitiveness that is going to make us successful."

The opening 45 minutes was all Duke, but George Washington's stingy defense frustrated the Blue Devils as two squads went into the locker room even at zero. The Blue Devils held an 11-0 advantage in shots in the first session, but were unable to connect on that final pass.

The Colonials were trying to find space behind Duke's backline with the long ball, but sophomore goaltender James Belshaw came off his line a few times to make key plays to keep a clean score sheet.

Looking for that elusive first goal to open up the game, the Blue Devils knocked on the door early and often in the second half. Finley registered the first of his three goals in the 49th minute when he capitalized on a defensive miscue by George Washington. He collected the ball and was able to sneak the ball past Jake Davis for a 1-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, Finley struck again as Grossman sent a long ball into the box. The Lumberton, N.J., native fought his way through a couple of Colonial defenders and was able to lift a shot over the shoulder of Davis at the near post.

Finley completed the natural hat trick in the 52nd minute with a rocket from 15 yards out off another great pass from Grossman out of the midfield. The goal was his seventh of the season and seventh in the past three games.

"He's been scoring a ton of goals lately," Grossman said of Finley. "He's one of those guys who doesn't necessarily need to be involved in a ton of plays or have a ton of chances, he's just a natural goal scorer. He's just a natural striker and it's awesome having him on our team."

Duke completed the scoring three minutes later when Thomas knocked in Grossman's corner kick from the right side. The three assists is a career-high for Grossman and marks the second time in his career he has had multiple assists in a contest.

The Colonials nearly got on the board in the 75th minute, but Seth Rudolph's shot slipped just wide right of the net. The shutout is the second of the season for the Blue Devils

Belshaw, Jan Trnka-Amrhein and Nick Tsipis split time in goal for the Blue Devils and were not forced to make any saves. Jake Davis went the distance for the Colonials in goal, pulling in seven saves.

Duke resumes ACC play on Sept. 17, hosting rival and No. 4 North Carolina at 6:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on Fox Soccer Channel as the Blue Devils try to "Blue Out" the Tar Heels. The first 500 fans in attendance win a free t-shirt.