Duke Beats UNC Asheville 5-1; Captures Tournament Title

Sunday, August 28

Durham, N.C.

2:30 PM

Duke University

1-0-1

UNC Asheville

0-2-0

UNC Asheville

Duke

Duke Beats UNC Asheville 5-1; Captures Tournament Title

8/28/2016 6:58:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.—Duke rookie Suniel Veerakone scored twice as Duke exploded for four second-half goals in a 5-1 victory over UNC Asheville in the John Rennie Nike Invitational finale this afternoon. The Blue Devils came away with the title with a win and a tie in the annual tournament.

Veerakone captured Most Valuable Player honors, finishing the weekend with two goals and 168 minutes played over the two games. Joining Veerakone on the All-Tournament team were Max Moser, Robert Moewes and Brian White.

“[Suniel] is a very good player,” said head coach John Kerr. “We see it every day in practice and how many good things he does and now he's adjusting to the pace of play in college.”

Duke (1-0-1) dominated possession throughout the 90 minutes and did well to capitalize on its opportunities in the second half to pull away from UNC Asheville (0-2-0).

Despite creating numerous scoring chances in the first half and owning the majority of possession, it was a Colby Agu shot with 2:13 left in period that put the Blue Devils ahead 1-0. Moser provided the assist, sliding a pass across the top of the penalty box where Agu slipped it low into the left corner for his first collegiate goal.

Bryson Asher had a fantastic look at goal 20 minutes in after a great buildup by the Blue Devils. Starting in the back, Duke played one and two-touch soccer to find Moser on the right flank. Working through a pair of Bulldog defenders, Moser sent the ball into the box where Veerakone flicked it to Asher for the shot from the top of the box saved by UNC Asheville goalkeeper.

The second half featured a flurry of action in the opening minutes with both squads scoring within a minute of each other. The Bulldogs equalized 58 seconds on a rebound goal from Chuka Anyafo. Moewes made the initial save, but Duke was unable to clear.

Duke responded 55 seconds later with a goal from White. Ryan Thompson provided the through ball to White for the finish. The goal came just seconds after Bulldog goalie did well to save a point-blank shot from Veerakone.

Six minutes later White was on the other end of Duke's third goal. White, after some nifty footwork to get inside the box, served a perfect ball to the head of Ciaran McKenna for his first goal of the season.

Playing with confidence, the Blue Devils continued to move the ball around the field in search of more goals. Veerakone took care of that with set piece goals within four minutes of each other. The first was a perfect strike to the upper left corner from 25 yards on top of the box. He followed with another strike from nearly an identical spot into the low left corner.

Moewes finished with three saves in the game and Duke outshot UNC Asheville 19-10. Chris Katt had six stops for the Bulldogs in goal.

Duke will face a tough test next Friday, Sept. 2 at No. 16 UCLA. Kickoff is set 8 p.m. (ET) on the Pac-12 Network.

#GoDuke