Blue Devils Open ACC Postseason Play at Notre Dame

Game 17

Duke (7-7-2) at No. 16 Notre Dame (10-5-2)

ACC Championship First Round

November 2, 2016 | 7 p.m. | ACC Network Extra

Alumni Stadium | Notre Dame, Ind.

ACC Network Extra | Live Stats | Twitter

Setting the Scene

Duke looks to keep its season going Wednesday night in the opening round of the ACC Championship at No. 16 Notre Dame.
The Blue Devils are the No. 10 seed with a 2-5-1 record in ACC play, while Notre Dame is the No. 7 seed with a 3-3-2 mark.
Notre Dame is coming off a 0-0 draw with North Carolina on senior night at Alumni Stadium.

Series History

Duke and Notre Dame are meeting for the 10th time overall and for the second time in ACC Championship play.
The Fighting Irish are 6-3-0 against the Blue Devils and 6-1-0 since 2008. Duke captured the most recent victory, upsetting then-No. 14 Notre Dame 2-1 in double overtime.
The Blue Devils are looking for their first win in Notre Dame, Ind., going 0-4 in the previous four meetings, including a 1-0 loss in the ACC Tournament in 2013.

Duke/Notre Dame by the Numbers

6 – Assists for rookie Max Moser this season, tied for fourth among all freshmen nationally and second among all ACC players

37 – Percentage of Duke's points in 2016 that have come from freshmen

14 – Points for junior Brian White, one more than he had in 19 games last season

3 – Of Brian White's five goals this season that are game winners

4-1-2 – Notre Dame's record in its three appearances in the ACC Tournament

15 – Different Blue Devils with at least one point this season

12 – Different Irish who own at least one point in 2016

6-1-2 – Notre Dame's home record in 2016

3-3-0 – Duke's record in road games in 2016

13 – Of the 1521 minutes Duke has played that Markus Fjørtoft has spent on the bench this season

Duke In the ACC Championship

Duke is playing in the 20th ACC Championship and in search of its fourth crown and first since 2006. This is the Blue Devils' first time as the No. 10 seed.

Overall ACC Championship Record

School	W	L	T	Pct.	For	Opp
Duke	19	24	4	.455	58	65

In Overtime	6-4-3
Semifinal Appearances	12
Finals Appearances	6
Tournament Titles	3

Record By Round
1st Round *	9-8-2
Quarterfinal *	2-7-0
Semifinals	6-6-0
Finals	2-2-0

* 1st round games preceded semifinals from 1987-2004

* quarterfinal round began in 2005 with nine-team field

About the Blue Devils

The Blue Devils will aim to beat Notre Dame for the second time in two-plus weeks and garner their first ACC Tournament victory since 2014.
Junior Brian White paces the offense with 14 points from five goals and four assists, while freshman Suniel Veerakone has 11 points from his three goals and five assists. Max Moser has a team-best six assists.
Graduate student goalkeeper Robert Moewes anchors the defense with a 1.27 goals against average and a .750 save percentage. He owns two shutouts and is averaging 3.94 saves per game, second overall in the ACC.
The Blue Devils have struggled to get the second goal in games this season, being held to a single score in nine of the 16 games. Duke has scored multiple goals five times and had a season-high five in the win over UNC Asheville. One of those seven games was the 2-1 victory over the Fighting Irish Oct. 21.

Scouting the Irish

Notre Dame starts ACC postseason play aiming to resume its winning ways. The Fighting Irish are on a five-game winless streak, dating back to a 2-0 win at Michigan Oct. 11.
The Irish finished the regular season with a 0-0 draw against No. 3 North Carolina last Friday and are 10-5-2 overall on the year.
ACC Player of the Year candidate Jon Gallagher paces the offense with a league-best 28 points from 11 goals and six assists. Brandon Aubrey has eight tallies and an assist to his name.
Chris Hubbard anchors a defense that has allowed just 12 goals in 17 games. He has played all but 31 minutes and owns a 0.62 goals against average and a .823 save percentage.
Notre Dame is 6-1-2 at home this season with the loss coming against Michigan State last Tuesday.

Last Time Out

Virginia scored in the 87th minute with a fantastic curling strike from Pablo Aguilar to hand Duke a 1-0 setback in the regular season finale.
Duke outshot the Cavaliers 6-3 in the first half, but was just off the mark. Virginia was dominant in the second period, outshooting the Blue Devils 8-1, and scoring the winner in the final two-plus minutes.

Last Time We Met

Duke freshman Brandon Williamson had a night to remember as he scored a pair of goals to lead the Blue Devils to a thrilling 2-1 double overtime upset on senior night.
Senior Robert Moewes was outstanding with seven saves. Three of those saves came in the second overtime.
Notre Dame scored early with a goal in the fifth minute before Williamson equalized with the first of his career in the 35th minute. He won the game with 1:49 left on an assist from Max Moser.

Missing Ebobisse and Huitema

Duke had one of its best offensive seasons under Kerr in 2015, scoring 106 points, the third most in Kerr's eight seasons. That left expectations high heading into the 2016 campaign with 64 percent of the team's scoring and 70 percent of the team's goal scoring returning to the lineup, with Jeremy Ebobisse (18 pts), Brian White (13 pts) and Brody Huitema (9 pts) leading the way.
In August, the Blue Devils suffered a double setback as Ebobisse elected to pursue a professional career and Huitema sufferred a career-ending injury. That 64 percent returning quickly dropped to 39 percent with White as the lone returning double digit scorer.

On The Road

Duke's three road wins this season surpasses its total from a year ago when it went 1-3-1.
The Blue Devils went 1-3 in ACC play this season on the road and, in a testament to the difficulty of the league, have never won more than three ACC road games since 2008.

Duke vs Ranked Teams

Duke will head to Notre Dame Wednesday for its fifth ranked opponents in the previous seven games. The Blue Devils are 2-5-0 against ranked teams, defeating No. 9 UCLA and No. 4 Notre Dame and losing to No. 25 Boston College, No. 12 Wake Forest, No. 18 Virginia Tech, No. 8 North Carolina and No. 17 Virginia.
Under John Kerr, Duke is 8-13-1 against ranked teams when unranked.

Under head coach John Kerr

vs. Ranked when Unranked	8-13-1
vs. Ranked when Ranked	4-10-2
vs. Unranked when Ranked	18-16-8

Magic Number Two

The Blue Devils have struggled to get that elusive second goal this season, but are very successful when they do. Duke is 3-0-0 when scoring two goals and 5-0-0 when scoring two-plus goals. The Blue Devils are 2-6-2 when being shut out or scoring only one goal.

Williamson Earns Honors

Freshman Brandon Williamson collected an array of awards following his performance against Notre Dame.
Williamson was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week and was voted to the College Soccer News and Top ?rawer Soccer National Teams of the Week for his two goals in the upset of the Irish.

Moseley Hitting His Stride

Junior Cameron Moseley has hit his stride in the latter part of the season, scoring three goals in the past six games. He has played 399 minutes in the past six games, 102 more minutes than he played in the eight prior games combined. He has started the past five games.
His 10 points are seven more than he had last season and are one shy of his total as a rookie.

Moewes Near Top of ACC in Saves

Moewes is second in the ACC in saves per game (3.94). His 63 saves also are second in the conference.
He is in search of his third of the season and 11th of his career shutout Wednesday night.

Rookies Leaving Their Mark

Three rookies have played at least 75 percent of the team's minutes this season and four freshmen are a part of the current starting XI.
Center back CC Uche leads the group in minutes played with 1383. Rookie center midfielder Suniel Veerakone is second on the team in points and was named the John Rennie Nike Invitational Most Valuable Player.
Max Moser, playing 1227 minutes and starting 14 games, has a team-high six assists. Brandon Williamson has started seven games and scored both goals in the upset win over No. 4 Notre Dame.

Duke's Tough Schedule

Duke's win over then-ninth-ranked UCLA was the beginning of a tough three-game stretch that featured three straight top 25 opponents early in the season.
Following the win over the Bruins, Duke suffered consecutive setbacks to then-No. 25 Boston College and No. 12 Wake Forest.
Duke just recently wrapped up a grueling stretch, squaring off against then-No. 18 Virginia Tech and No. 8 North Carolina, No. 4 Notre Dame and No. 17 Virginia in a span of 21 days. The Blue Devils captured their biggest win over the fourth-ranked Irish.
The Blue Devils meet their fifth ranked opponent in the previous seven games Wednesday night at No. 12 Notre Dame.

Up Next

A win over the Fighting Irish would send the Blue Devils to Winston-Salem, N.C. to play ACC regular season champ Wake Forest.

Blue Devils Open ACC Postseason Play at Notre Dame

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Ebobisse

Brody Huitema

Robert Moewes

Cameron Moseley

Max Moser

CC Uche

Suniel Veerakone

Brian White

Brandon Williamson

Duke information

Blue Devils Open ACC Postseason Play at Notre Dame

Related News

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Ebobisse

Brody Huitema

Robert Moewes

Cameron Moseley

Max Moser

CC Uche

Suniel Veerakone

Brian White

Brandon Williamson

Related Videos

Duke information