Tweed-Kent Propels Duke Past Boston College

Friday, September 24

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

Boston College

Tweed-Kent Propels Duke Past Boston College

9/24/2010 10:42:00 PM | Men's Soccer

By: Duke Sports Information

DURHAM, N.C.-Duke University junior Christopher Tweed-Kent notched his first goal of the season with 7:09 left in the second half to lead the 11th-ranked Blue Devils to a 1-0 win over No. 10 Boston College in Atlantic Coast Conference men's soccer action this evening at Koskinen Stadium. The win pushes Duke to 1-1-1 in conference action this season, with all three opponents being ranked among the top 10.

Duke improves to 4-1-2 overall and an even 1-1-1 versus conference foes. Boston College falls to 4-1-1 and 0-1-1 in the ACC.

"It was a must-win for us tonight," head coach John Kerr said. "We had two previous home games and this was our third in a row and we wanted to come away tonight with a victory and in the second half you could tell we were hungrier, we were fitter and we deserved to win."

Junior Temi Molinar and sophomore Ryan Finley provided the assists on the game-winning goal, their firsts of the season as well. Defensively, the Blue Devils posted its fourth shutout in seven games with sophomore goaltender anchoring the defense with four saves, including a goal-line grab with four minutes remaining in the second half.

After nearly 83 minutes of scoreless soccer, it appeared that the team that scored first would win. Applying a lot of pressure throughout the second half, the Blue Devils finally broke through in the 83rd minute with a great piece of combination play. Grossman collected the ball just outside the penalty area. He quickly slotted a ball to Molinar who was running through the right side of the box. The outside midfielder got to the end line and whipped the ball across the face of the goal where Finley got the first touch on the ball. After it bounced around in the box, Tweed-Kent knocked it home for his first score of the season.

"We had a lot of numbers in the box," Tweed-Kent said. "Cole found it and slotted an unbelievable ball to Temi [Molinar] who whipped the ball around really quickly. Somehow the ball fumbled around and Finley got a touch on it I think and it just opened up and I was able to find a corner."

Neither team could get much offense going in the first half as the two squads combined for just nine shots total and just three on frame. The Eagles took the first shot of the game when Kyle Bekker hit a shot off the post in the ninth minute, but Belshaw had the shot covered as he watched it ricocheted off the outside of the goal for a goal kick.

Finley had a look in the 15th minute, but Justin Luthy made one of his six stops on the evening to keep the score even. The most dangerous chance of the first half arguably came with 24 seconds left as a header from Charlie Rugg hit the post after a long pass from Bekker.

The second half featured more action with Duke pressing the pace offensively with 12 shots, including five on goal. With Grossman playing a more attacking role out of the midfield, the Blue Devils were able to find more open spaces behind the Eagle defense.

"We made a few adjustments," Kerr said. "We got our players - in particular Cole Grossman - more forward on the field and he made a great difference in our attacking play because in the first half we weren't getting enough players in that attacking area of the field and it was easier for [Boston College]."

As Duke started to wear down Boston College in the second half, the scoring opportunities became greater. Just over five minutes into the game, Finley found Tweed-Kent wide open on the left side just inside the 18-yard box. Looking to get to the near post, Tweed-Kent was quickly smothered by the Eagle defense.

Finley continued to wreak havoc on Boston College's backline as he and Grossman continued to combine in the attacking third. However, the Eagles were playing organized and compact defense and were able to draw Duke offside five times in the second half and 11 for the game, including one that disallowed a goal by Finley.

With Duke leading 1-0 with just under five minutes to play, Boston College made a final push. The Eagles nearly evened the score at the 4:25 mark as a pass came in from the right side. Sacir Hot came in and got a foot on the ball, but Belshaw was there to make his last save of the night to earn his third shutout of the season.

Overall, Duke held a 16-11 advantage in shots, including a 12-6 edge in the second half. The Blue Devils took five corner kicks to the Eagles' three.

The Blue Devils return to action on Sept. 28, traveling to Southern Conference foe Elon for a 7 p.m., matchup. Duke resumes ACC play on Oct. 1 at Maryland on Fox Soccer Channel at 8 p.m.

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