Men's Soccer Moves Up To 18th In Soccer America Poll

DURHAM, N.C.?After a 2-0 week and riding a five-match unbeaten streak, the Duke University men's soccer team moved up four spots to the 18th spot in the Soccer America poll. This is the highest ranking in Soccer America for the Blue Devils this season as they were 21st earlier in the year.

Duke defeated a pair of non-conference foes in Colgate and Northern Illinois this past week to close out non-league play. The Blue Devils dropped Colgate 1-0 in a mid-week tilt and beat the Huskies 3-1 over the weekend. The victories pushed Duke's record to10-5-2 overall as it heads into its final regular season match versus ACC foe N.C. State. Duke currently stands in fourth place in the ACC standings and can climb to as high as third for the ACC Tournament.

The Blue Devils have won four straight contests and are unbeaten in the past five games. They allowed just one goal in that span, which included a tie against top-ranked Wake Forest and a win over then No. 19 Virginia. Senior Mike Grella leads the offense with 12 goals and seven assists for 31 points, while sophomore Cole Grossman has four tallies and three helpers for 11 points. Grella has played a part in 19 of Duke's 27 goals this season and on 12 of the previous 14.

Defensively, the Blue Devils have given up just one goal in the past five outings and just seven in the previous 13 contests. Senior Brendan Fitzgerald has the majority of minutes in goal and sports a 0.73 goals against average and a .817 save percentage. Rookie Jan Trnka-Amrhein started the past two matches and has a 1.16 goals against average and .769 save percentage.

Duke hosts N.C. State in its final regular season match on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium. A Blue Devil win coupled with a Virginia loss or tie would put Duke as the No. 3 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

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