Duke Falls at Elon, 3-2

Tuesday, October 15

Elon, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

6-5-1

Elon

5-7-1

Duke

Elon

Photo by: Duke Athletics

10/15/2019 9:38:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score

The Blue Devils Return Home Friday

ELON, N.C.—Elon freshman Vemund Hole Vik headed home a free kick in the 89th minute to lift the Phoenix over visiting Duke, 3-2, in Tuesday night men's soccer action at Rudd Field. The Blue Devils battled back from a goal down twice before Elon scored in the final 80 seconds for the thrilling victory.

Duke senior forward Daniele Proch was outstanding yet again for the Blue Devils, recording a brace to push his season goal total to 10. The Blue Devils fall to 6-5-1 overall on the year, while Elon improves to 5-7-1.

"You have to give a lot of credit to Elon," said head coach John Kerr. "The deserved this win. They were up for it and executed and rebounded from us coming back and regained momentum for a short period of time and they earned it."

It was a frantic 90 minutes of soccer as Elon grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first half before Duke equalized midway through the second. The two teams traded goals over the next 20 minutes with the Phoenix going ahead 2-1 and Duke tying the game again eight minutes later and setting up the wild finish in which Elon drew a foul 30 yards from goal and finished it for the win.

Among the fireworks in the opening 45 minutes were both teams hitting the crossbar. Elon was the first to find the woodwork when John Walden's strike hit the underside of the bar in the 16th minute.

Duke, a bit lucky after Elon controlled play early on, picked up its intensity and started to get into the game and generate quality action in the offensive third. Elon goalkeeper Peter Wentzel came up with a fantastic save on a shot from Porch in the 29th minute. The rebound bounced out to Max Moser who knocked his shot off the crossbar, keeping the game scoreless.
Minutes later, it was Duke goalkeeper Will Pulisic making a diving stop on a 20-yard strike from Nick Adamczyk.

With time winding down and momentum shifting in Elon's favor, Burl Shepherd took advantage of a loose ball in Duke's defensive end and beat a Blue Devil defender and perfectly struck the ball past Pulisic into the left side netting for the 1-0 lead at the break.

Duke came out on the front foot in the second half and put a lot of pressure on the Elon defense in search of the equalizer. On the defensive end, Pulisic made a fantastic save to keep the Phoenix from going ahead 2-0.

Just minutes later in the 65th minute, the Blue Devils equalized with a textbook counterattack. It all started with a ball out of the back dummied by Proch out to Daniel Wright on the left side. The junior winger raced toward the Elon goal and switched the field to Colby Agu open on the right side of the penalty box. The senior picked his head up and fed Proch running into the box where the senior striker finished for his ninth goal of the year.

Ten minutes later, Elon regained the 2-1 lead on a penalty kick in the 75th minute. Inigo Bronte converted from the spot for the Phoenix.

Then Proch equalized again for the Blue Devils, volleying a loose ball into the back of the net with 7:32 remaining in regulation. The game, seemingly headed into overtime, took one final turn as Duke was whistled for the decisive foul with 80 seconds remaining.

Pulisic finished with four saves in the game, while Wentzel had two. Elon outshot the Blue Devils 16-6 overall, while Duke won the corner kick battle 12-3.

The Blue Devils return home to host ACC foe NC State Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live by RSN. The game falls at the same time as Duke's Countdown to Craziness basketball event. Parking will be $10 cash and will be available at the Cameron Blvd./751 jogging trail lot and the Chemistry Lot on Circuit Drive.

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