Duke Falls to No. 17 Virginia 1-0 on Late Goal

Friday, October 28

Charlottesville, Va.

7:00 PM

Duke University

7-7-2 (2-5-1ACC)

Virginia

9-2-5 (3-2-3ACC)

DUKE

Virginia

ACC Soccer First Round Game at Notre Dame Postponed

Duke Falls to No. 17 Virginia 1-0 on Late Goal

10/28/2016 10:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—Virginia redshirt junior Pablo Aguilar curled a shot past Duke goalkeeper Robert Moewes in the 87th minute to lift the 17th-ranked Cavaliers to the 1-0 victory in ACC men's soccer action at Klöckner Stadium. The game was the final regular season game for both squads.

Duke falls to 7-7-2 overall and 2-5-1 in ACC play and will head to the ACC Championships as the No. 10 seed. Virginia improves to 9-2-5 and 3-2-3 in league action and will host a first-round game next week. Final matchups will be announced following the conclusion of the NC State and Boston College contest Saturday night.

Virginia managed just two shots on goal in the game, but made the second one count with 3:20 remaining in regulation. Aguilar took advantage of a little room at the top of the penalty box and curled his shot perfectly into the right upper 90 for the win on senior night.

Duke was the better team in the first half, getting into the game midway through and controlling the run of play for the final 25 minutes. Virginia had the majority of possession in the early going, but outstanding and organized defense kept the Cavaliers from creating any dangerous chances.

The Blue Devils, much like they did against Elon Tuesday night, had success attacking down the flanks. Giving fits to the Virginia defense, Max Moser had a great look from 18 yards scooped up by Cavalier goalkeeper Jeff Caldwell. Brian White and Markus Fjørtoft also had good looks at goal stopped by the talented Caldwell.

Duke's defense was outstanding in the first half, allowing just three shots by the Cavaliers, none of which came on frame. The Blue Devils outshot Virginia 6-3 in the first half, including three on goal, while Virginia had a slight 5-4 edge in corner kicks.

Virginia, fortunate to not be trailing Duke after 45 minutes of action, started the second period the way it started the game. This time, however, the Cavaliers created dangerous opportunities.

Moewes was the man of the hour in the second half, making a pair of big plays to keep Virginia off the scoreboard. The veteran goalkeeper did well to come off his line and pick the ball off the foot of a Cavalier striker in the 52nd minute and had the save of the night seven minutes later as he dove in spectacular fashion to his left to knock away a off of the foot of Edward Opoku.

After absorbing a lot of pressure from the Cavaliers in the first half of the second stanza, the Blue Devils started to get more possession. Brandon Williamson found a lot of space in the midfield to attack the Virginia backline on an outlet pass from Kevon Black, but his finishing pass intended for White was intercepted by a Cavalier defender to thwart the attack heading into the final minutes.

Virginia continued to find space on top of the Duke penalty box and finally capitalized in the 87th minute on the fantastic strike from Aguilar.

Moewes finished with one save on the night, while Caldwell had three. The Cavaliers outshot Duke 11-8 for the game and 8-1 in the second half.

Duke will await the announcement of the ACC Championships bracket by the conference office Saturday night. The first round games will be played on the campuses of the No. 5-8 seeds Wednesday, Nov. 2.

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