Blue Devils Drop ACC Men's Soccer Opener

Saturday, September 13

Louisville, Ky.

7:30 PM

Duke University

Louisville

Blue Devils Drop ACC Men's Soccer Opener

9/13/2014 10:13:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fifth-ranked Louisville tallied a pair of goals in the opening four minutes and never looked back en route to a 5-0 blanking of Duke in the ACC opener for the two programs . The game was the inaugural Atlantic Coast Conference contest for the new-member Cardinals.

Louisville (2-1-1, 1-0-0 ACC), scoreless in its previous 236 minutes of action, wasted little time on stopping its scoring drought with a tally just 3:18 into the game. With the ball at his feet on the right sideline, Tim Kubel beat a Duke (2-2-1, 0-1-0 ACC) defender to the endline and found Will Vitalis on the doorstep for the 1-0 advantage.

Less than two minutes later, Ben Strong scored the first of his two goals on the night to shock the Blue Devils 2-0 in the first 5:22.

Duke regrouped and started to string passes together, but was unable to get quality looks on goal. Sophomore Brody Huitema had the first look on frame for the Blue Devils, firing a shot from 20 yards that was parried wide by Louisville keeper Joachim Ball.

With time winding down until halftime, Louisville capitalized on a defensive miscue from the Blue Devils. A failed clearance fell right to the foot of Santiago Velez who calmly slipped it past Duke keeper Joe Ohaus for the 3-0 halftime advantage.

Duke registered six shots on goal in the opening half, forcing Ball to make three saves. Ohaus made three stops on eight first-half shots.

Louisville added two more goals in the opening 20 minutes of the second half to stretch the lead to 5-0. Duke continued to try to find the open lanes behind Louisville's defense, but the Cardinals' stalwart backline refused to give up the shutout. Louisville had allowed just one goal in its three prior games and posted its third shutout of the season.

The Blue Devils registered four second-half shots as they tried get a spark from the bench. Ohaus finished with four saves on the night, matching his career high. Ball also had four stops for the Cardinals.

Duke looks to bounce back against ACC rival No.3 North Carolina Friday night, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

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