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Friday, September 1
Durham, N.C.
5:00 p.m.
Duke University
vs
NC State vs. South Florida
Blue Devils Score Three First Half Goals in 3-1 Victory Over American University
9/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
DURHAM, N.C. - The ninth-ranked Duke men's soccer team got off to a good start as the host team in the Duke/adidas Classic Friday night with a 3-1 victory over American University. No. 17 South Florida also won its first game with a 2-0 shutout against N.C. State.
The Blue Devils played the nightcap and fell behind early when Larry Mark took a pass from Sal Caccavale and scored just 2:47 into the game for his second goal of the season. Duke showed the same poise they showed in the preseason when they cam back just 1:14 later to tie it up. Mike Grella played a pass into the box from 35 yards out and Spencer Wadsworth chased it down and sent it into the left corner for his second goal of the year.
“Right after we got scored on we all just stayed calm,” said Wadsworth. “In the past we have had tendencies to freak out and change our gameplan but today we stuck to it and came out on top.”
Wadsworth continued his early season success midway through the half when he started another scoring play for Duke. He found Tomek Charowski open on the outside and Charowski sent a cross right in front of the goal where Grella made a sliding kick to tally his third goal of the season. The Blue Devils would go on to make it 3-1 heading into halftime after Joshua Bienenfeld made a run down the right side and sent a cross to Chris Loftus. The goal was the first of the year for Loftus as Bienenfeld picked up his first collegiate point.
In the first half, Duke only had a 7-5 advantage in shots and American held a 3-2 edge on corner kicks. The Blue Devils turned those numbers around in the second half holding commanding leads of 13-4 on shots and 4-1 on corner kicks to control the game. Duke did not score but they also shutout the Eagles to make the final score 3-1.
“The offense has been great so far,” said Wadsworth. “It has taken awhile to gel but you can see it by the unselfish play. We still have a lot of work to do in order to get ready for the ACC schedule.”
With the goal and an assist Wadsworth now leads the Blue Devils with nine points. He has two goals and five assists through just three games. Grella also had a goal and an assist to give him three goals and two assists, tying him for the team lead in goals. Justin Papadakis made one save in the game to improve to 2-0 in goal while Chris Sedlak stopped six shots in the loss for American.
“Tonight we played a really good team,” said Head Coach John Rennie. “They were undefeated and have been a NCAA Tournament team year-in-and-year-out and it was a very good game. I thought in the second half, we took over the game. It was a very good team we played and I am happy with the result.
In the first game of the day, South Florida scored two goals in the second half to shutout N.C. State, 2-0. Hunter West made some moves to get by defenders and score his second goal of the year in the 76th minute, breaking a 0-0 tie. Jordan Seabrook made it 2-0 when he got behind the defense for a goal after Rodrigo Hidalgo sent a ball from midfield in the 82nd minute. Christopher Widman made five saves for the Wolfpack and Dane Brenner stopped two shots for the Bulls.
The Duke/adidas Classic will wrap up on Sunday. N.C. State will battle American University at 5 p.m. to start the day. The champion will be decided by the winner of the Duke vs. South Florida game at 7:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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