No. 4 Blue Devils Notch ACC Road Win, 4-1 At N.C. State

Sunday, October 15

Raleigh, N.C.

2:00 p.m.

Duke University

NC State

No. 4 Blue Devils Notch ACC Road Win, 4-1 At N.C. State

10/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

RALEIGH, N.C. ? Duke (10-2-1, 4-1-1) beat North Carolina State (4-8-1, 1-5-1) by a score of 4-1 on Sunday afternoon in Raleigh at Method Road Stadium. It was the third win in a row for the Blue Devils, and vaulted them into sole possession of first place in the ever-competitive ACC conference with 13 points. Senior forward Chris Loftus, junior forward Spencer Wadsworth, junior defender Tim Jepson, and sophomore forward Mike Grella all scored for Duke, who continued their offensive surge of late.

The Wolfpack jumped out to an early lead on a goal by junior midfielder El Hadj Cisse in the seventh minute. Cisse sprinted down the sideline, received a pass from freshman forward Jorge Mora, and took a shot that deflected off a Duke defender and into the net. It was only the first shot of the game for N.C. State, but they would not score again on junior goalkeeper Justin Papadakis, and only get one more shot on goal.

From then on, the game was all Duke, as they scored three goals in the first half and added one in the second. Two of the goals were scored in less than two minutes late in the first half to put the Blue Devils up 3-1. Duke held the edge in shots 13-7, and in corner kicks 8-2. The defense virtually shut down the Wolfpack, allowing them only six more shots the entire game, of which only one was on goal.

Duke tied the game in the 11th minute on a tap shot by Loftus. Senior captain and defender Kyle Helton passed the ball to junior midfielder Zach Pope, who played the ball into the box where Loftus put it away for his third goal this year. It was the team-leading eighth assist for Pope this season.

Wadsworth would be the next to tally a score, on a brilliant header off of a corner kick by junior Tomek Charowski. The goal came in the 35th minute, and was the fifth this year for Wadsworth.

The highlight of the match was the third Duke goal of the game, scored by Jepson in the 36th minute. Wadsworth dropped the ball back to junior midfielder Michael Videira, who played a pass across to the left side that Jepson one-timed with his left foot into the net. The goal put the Blue Devils up 3-1 going into halftime. It was Jepson's second goal of the season and of his career.

“Nobody was running with me, so I thought I'd get behind the defense a little bit,” Jepson explained later. “Mike [Videira] saw me, we got the roommate connection going on, and I decided to finish it the first time.”

Grella scored his team high eighth goal in the 37th minute of the second half, sealing the victory for good. He was assisted by Wadsworth and junior midfielder Joe Germanese, who played with a cast on his arm the entire game. It was Grella's first goal since September 16 at Harvard, ending his five game goal-less streak. Wadsworth finished the game with one goal and two assists, leading Duke's offense for the day.

Coach John Rennie now has the most overall wins of any coach at an ACC school, with 391 career victories at Duke. Rennie tied former Clemson coach I.M. Ibrahim on Sunday for most wins in ACC matches with 90. The Blue Devils have two more chances to break that record for Rennie this season, with contests versus North Carolina at home and Clemson on the road.

“I haven't even thought about it,” Rennie said after the game about his record-breaking. “I've had a lot of great players and a lot of great assistant coaches. And I've been here a long time, so that adds up to a lot of wins.”

Duke will play a non-league game in Koskinen Stadium on Tuesday, October 17 against Alabama A&M. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. The Blue Devils are 0-3 all-time against Alabama A&M, but have not played them since 1983. Senior Night is this Friday, October 20, versus North Carolina at 7 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.