Belshaw Stops Furman to Lead Blue Devils to Victory

Monday, August 29

Greenville, S.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Furman

Belshaw Picks Up Team of the Week Honors

Belshaw Stops Furman to Lead Blue Devils to Victory

8/29/2011 9:05:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

GREENVILLE, S.C.-Duke University junior goalkeeper James Belshaw made eight saves and sophomore defender Sebastien Ibeagha netted the game's lone goal to lead the Blue Devils to a 1-0 victory in men's soccer action at Furman this evening. Duke improves to 1-1-0 on the year with the win.

Duke and Furman shared possession throughout the opening 10 minutes. The Paladins started to get into a rhythm and were creating dangerous opportunities. The first one came from the foot of Clint Ritter who fired a shot right at Belshaw. Furman continued to press forward, but Belshaw was outstanding as he made multiple excellent saves, including a one-on-one. The junior keeper finished with five saves in the first 45 minutes.

Duke, looking to stop the Paladins' momentum, earned a set piece off of a blocked shot by Christopher Tweed-Kent. Morales went over the right side and sent a ball right into the six-yard box where Ibeagha went up and headed it to the back corner. The Furman defender tried to clear it off the line, but couldn't get enough of it as Duke went up 1-0 15:04 into the game.

Gaining in confidence after that goal, the Blue Devils started to get more possession as the half went on. Furman had a few more dangerous chances in the closing minutes, but Duke's defense remained organized and stifled the attacks.

The Blue Devils carried that confidence into the second half as they controlled the run of play throughout much of the 45 minutes. Duke did well to maintain its composure in the back and continued to build throughout the midfield.

As the Paladins seemed to be wearing down and Duke growing in confidence, the tides quickly changed as Duke was forced to play a man down due to a red card. Junior Andrew Wenger moved from striker to central defense and the Blue Devils never missed a beat.

Furman, however, took advantage a few times and had some good looks at goal. The best chance came off of a corner kick, but Belshaw got down in a hurry and stopped the header from crossing the line and keeping a clean sheet for his first shutout of the season.

Furman held an 18-13 lead in shots and a 6-5 edge in corner kicks. Kann posted three saves for the Paladins in goal.

Duke opens its home slate this weekend in the annual Duke/Nike Classic. The Blue Devils welcome UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 2 at 7:30 p.m., and will take on SMU on Sept. 4 at 2:30 p.m. Duke also will honor the 25th anniversary of the 1986 NCAA Championship squad prior to the UC Santa Barbara game.

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