Duke Looks to Continue NCAA Run Saturday Night

Game 20 | NCAA Third Round

No. 14 Duke (13-4-2) vs. Fordham (14-5-2)

November 25, 2017 | 6 p.m. | WatchESPN

Durham, N.C. | Koskinen Stadium

SETTING THE SCENE

Sixth-seeded Duke and Fordham kick off the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament third round Saturday night. It is a rematch from the regular season, which Duke won 3-0. The game will be broadcast live and can be seen on WatchESPN.com or through the ESPN app.

DUKE – FORDHAM BY THE NUMBERS
3-0 – Score of the regular season meeting between Duke and Fordham as the Blue Devils took home the John Rennie Nike Invitational title

31-24-1 – Duke's overall record in the NCAA Tournament

3 – Times Duke has advanced to the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament since it was expanded to 48 teams in 2001

2-1 – Duke's record in those three trips overall with wins in 2004 and 2006

100 – Wins for head coach John Kerr at Duke, only the second Blue Devil men's soccer coach to amass 100 career victories at the school

12-0-1 – Duke's record when scoring first this season

11 – Shutouts for Fordham goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu, fourth nationally

3 – Times Duke has been shutout this season, one of which was a scoreless draw

.774 – Will Pulisic's save percentage, first in the league and second among the three freshmen goalies remaining in the NCAA Tournament

12 – Different Blue Devils who have at least one goal on the year after Max Moser and Kristófer Garðarsson netted their firsts Sunday

13 – Wins for the Blue Devils in 2013, one of 20 teams to reach the mark and the most by a Duke team since 2009

HOW DUKE GOT HERE

The Blue Devils earned the No. 6 seed and first-round bye. In its opening game, Duke used career-first goals by Max Moser and Kristófer Gardarsson to beat FIU, 2-1. Will Pulisic made seven saves as Duke held the nation's top ranked offense scoreless for 75 minutes and to nearly two goals under its season average.

Duke NCAA Tournament Resume

12 - Wins

8-4-1 - Record against RPI Top 50

4 - Top 25 RPI victories

8 - Top 50 RPI victories

10 - Top 70 RPI victories

2 - Strength of Schedule

5 - Opponent Strength of Schedule

53 - RPI Average of Duke's victories

5 - RPI Average of Duke's losses

7 - Shutouts

HOW FORDHAM GOT HERE

The Rams are riding a hot streak right now, winning two NCAA Tournament games, which includes at 1-0 upset at No. 11 seed Virginia Sunday. Fordham sported a 26 RPI to earn an at-large bid after posting a 12-5-2 record after Atlantic 10 tournament play. It fell to UMass in overtime in the A-10 semifnals.

Fordham NCAA Tournament Resume

12 - Wins

26 - RPI

2 - Top 50 RPI victories

3 - Top 70 RPI victories

3-5-1 - Record against Top 70 RPI

52 - Strength of Schedule

DUKE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Duke has 26 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and earned a bid this year for the first time since 2011. The Blue Devils are 31-24-1 overall in NCAA action.

The Blue Devils have advanced to the round of 16 three other times – 2004, 2006, 2009 – since the field expanded to 16 teams in 2001. Duke is 2-1 in third-round games, winning in 2004 and 2006 and falling to Wake Forest in 2009.

Under head coach John Kerr, Duke is 5-4 in postseason play with two of the losses coming in overtime.

The Blue Devils are one of 24 teams to win an NCAA title, capturing the 1986 crown. They have advanced to three championship games and five NCAA semifinals – the last being 2004.

Head coach John Kerr is one of five Blue Devils to score two goals in an NCAA Tournament game, netting two against Harvard in the 1986 title run.

SERIES HISTORY

Duke and Fordham are meeting for the third time overall and for the second time this season Saturday evening. Duke is 2-0 against the Rams, outscoring them 5-1 in the two games that came 27 seasons apart.

The Blue Devils are 2-0 against current Atlantic 10 teams in NCAA Tournament play. They are 1-0 against both Saint Louis and George Mason.

Atlantic 10 in NCAA Tournament

Saint Louis 1-0

George Mason 1-0

Fordham TBD

LAST TIME WE MET

Senior Brian White scored two goals and the Blue Devils held Fordham scoreless in a 3-0 victory to win the 2017 John Rennie Nike Invitational. Daniele Proch added the third goal for the Blue Devils in the August matchup.

The Blue Devils dominated play, outshooting the Rams 18-4. Will Pulisic made one save in the victory.

ABOUT THE BLUE DEVILS

Duke midfielder Max Moser and Kristófer Gardarsson recorded their first career goals Sunday night to lift the sixth-seeded Blue Devils to a thrilling 2-1 victory over FIU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Brian White headlines the offense with nine goals and two assists for 20 points. His nine tallies are a career best. Daniele Proch is next in line with five goals and 12 points overall in his first year as a Blue Devil. Daniel Wright, Markus Fjørtoft and Cameron Moseley have contributed three goals. Outside back Carter Manley has a team-high five assists. Twelve different Blue Devils overall have scored at least one goal this season.

Will Pulisic is 13-4-2 in goal with a 0.97 goals against average and a .774 save percentage. He has seven shutouts and owns 65 saves to rank firth and third in the ACC, respectively.

SCOUTING FORDHAM

Fordham arrives in Durham with a 14-5-2 overall record after upsetting No. 11 seed Virginia 1-0 Sunday. The Rams have won seven of their past nine games with both losses being by a single score.

Janos and Jannik Loebe headline the offense with 23 and 18 points, respectively. They both own seven goals apiece, while Janos has a team-best nine assists. Only eight different Rams have a goal this season.

Defensively, the Rams have posted 11 shutouts to rank eighth nationally. Rashid Nuhu has played every minute in goal and owns a 0.74 goals against average – 23rd nationally – and a .802 save percentage. He has made 65 saves in 21 games.

LOOKING WAY AHEAD IN THE BRACKET

Should the seeds hold on Duke's side of the bracket, the Blue Devils will have another weekend of playing in the Triangle. A third round victory over Fordham will allow the Blue Devils the chance to either stay at home for the quarterfinals or make the short trip to Cary for a game against North Carolina.

With two seemingly home games on the horizon, Duke could only have to travel 48 miles round trip to advance to the College Cup in Philadelphia.

KERR REACHES CENTURY MARK

Head coach John Kerr captured his 100th win at Duke Sunday night with a 2-1 victory over FIU. In his 10th season, Kerr is only the second Duke coach in program history to reach the century mark.

Kerr's mentor and head coach, John Rennie, won 410 games in his 29 seasons at Duke and still ranks 22nd all-time across all three divisions with 454 wins overall. He is ninth among Division I coaches.

Kerr's current .577 win percentage is fourth among Duke coaches with Rennie leading the way at .706. Roy Skinner (1966-76; 71-45-5) is second at .607, while inaugural head coach K.C. Gerard (1935-48; 41-27-10) finished with a .589 win percentage.

DUKE VS RANKED TEAMS

Duke played its ninth ranked team in FIU this past Sunday. Under John Kerr, Duke is 9-14-1 against ranked teams when unranked and 7-14-3 against top 25 teams when also ranked in the top 25. The Blue Devils own four top 25 wins this season, the most by a Kerr team after they won three in 2017, 2015 and 2008. Duke is 4-4-1 in 2017 and went 2-6-0 last year.

vs. Ranked when Unranked	9-14-1
vs. Ranked when Ranked	7-14-3
vs. Unranked when Ranked	21-16-8

WHERE BLUE DEVILS STAND AMONG FIELD

Pulisic ranks 11th among the 16 goalies remaining with seven shutouts, while Carter Manley is one of 45 players left in the tournament with at least five assists. The high-water mark is 18 by Christopher Muelle of Wisconsin. Brian White is one of 14 players whose season is still going to have nine goals to his name.

Rk.	Name	School	Shutouts
1.	Trey Muse	Indiana	16
2.	Drew Shepherd	Western Mich.	13
3.	Andrew Pesci	New Hampshire	12
4.	Andreu Cases Mundet	Wake Forest	11
5.	Rashid Nuhu	Fordham	11
6.	Jimmy Hague	Michigan St.	11
7.	Nico Corti	Stanford	10
8.	Michael Nelson	SMU	10
9.	Eric Dick	Butler	9
10.	Ben Lundt	Akron	9
11.	Will Pulisic	Duke	7
12.	Phillip Schilling	Wisconsin	7

Rk.	Name	School	Assists
1.	Christopher Mueller	Wisconson	18
2.	John Bakero	Wake Forest	14
3.	Jared Stroud	Colgate	13
4.	Brandon Servania	Wake Forest	11
	Cam Lindley	North Carolina	11
6.	Zach Wright	North Carolina	10
7.	Janos Loebe	Fordham	9
	Jay McIntosh	Western Mich.	9
9.	Lewis Suddick	Butler	8
	Tommy Clark	Western Mich.	8
11.	Logan Gdula	Wake Forest	7
	Isaac Galliford	Butler	7
	Mark Segbers	Wisconson	7
	Jelani Pieters	North Carolina	7
	Mauro Cichero	SMU	7
	Brandon Bye	Western Mich.	7
	Trevor Swartz	Indiana	7
18.	Luis Argudo	Wake Forest	6
	Foster Langsdorf	Stanford	6
	Frantzdy Pierrot	Coastal Carolina	6
	Morgan Hackworth	Akron	6
	Tim Kubel	Louisville	6
	Adam Wilson	Louisville	6
	Jared Rice	SMU	6
	Connor Corrigan	Michigan St.	6
	Griffin Dorsey	Indiana	6
27.	Carter Manley	Duke	5
	18 more with 5

Rk.	Name	School	Goals
1.	Jon Bakero	Wake Forest	15
2.	Garrett Mclaughlin	SMU	14
3.	Brandon Guhl	Butler	13
4.	Foster Langsdorf	Stanford	12
	Brandon Bye	Western Mich.	12
6.	Stuart Holthusen	Akron	11
7.	Ema Twumasi	Wake Forest	10
	Frantzdy Pierrot	Coastal Carolina	10
	Tom Barlow	Wisconsin	10
	Alan Winn	North Carolina	10
	Mason Toye	Indiana	10
12.	Brian White	Duke	9
	Christopher Mueller	Wisconsin	9
	Mauro Cichero	SMU	9

UP NEXT

A Duke win will send the Blue Devils to the NCAA quarterfinals where they will play the winner between North Carolina and SMU. The game will kick off Dec. 1 or Dec. 2 at a time and place to be determined. The highest remaining seed hosts.

Duke Looks to Continue NCAA Run Saturday Night

Players Mentioned

Carter Manley

Cameron Moseley

Max Moser

Daniele Proch

Will Pulisic

Brian White

Daniel Wright

Duke information

Duke Looks to Continue NCAA Run Saturday Night

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Players Mentioned

Carter Manley

Cameron Moseley

Max Moser

Daniele Proch

Will Pulisic

Brian White

Daniel Wright

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