Pulisic Excellent in Setback to No. 22 SMU

Monday, September 16

Durham, N.C.

7:00 PM

Duke University

4-2-0, 0-1-0

SMU

6-0-0, 0-0-0

SMU

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Pulisic Excellent in Setback to No. 22 SMU

9/16/2019 10:20:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score

Duke Hits Road for Next Contest Friday

DURHAM, N.C.—Duke junior goalkeeper Will Pulisic made eight saves, including one on a penalty kick, but it wasn't enough as No. 22 SMU scored a goal in each half to pick up the 2-0 road victory over the No. 2 Blue Devils tonight at Koskinen Stadium. The eight saves by Pulisic matched his career high.

Duke (4-2-0) struggled to keep possession and get into any rhythm in the first half. The Blue Devils' touch seemed to be a bit off as the Mustangs were first to the ball for much of the opening 45 minutes.

"Our first half performance was lackluster," said head coach . "Give credit to SMU. They came in with a game plan and really took it to us in the first half. I thought we responded really well at halftime and came out firing on all cylinders in the second half."
John Kerr
SMU (6-0-0), featuring the nation's No. 2 scoring offense, was able to exploit space behind the Duke backline with its speedy forward Garrett McLaughlin. After a couple of early opportunities, McLaughlin drew a penalty just inside the 18-yard box.

The senior striker stepped up to the spot, but couldn't beat Pulisic as the junior knocked the ball down to keep the Mustangs off the board. However, SMU came right back moments later with McLaughlin sneaking in behind and finishing a pass from Knut Ahlander for the 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute.

Duke held strong in the final 20 minutes, but never was able to generate any offense or much possession against the Mustangs and headed into the locker room down, 1-0.

The second half was a different squad as the Blue Devils came out with more intensity and started to get into the attack more. Quality combination play in the final third left Daniel Wright with a couple of good chances SMU goalkeeper Shane Lanson turned away.

The Blue Devils looked like they would equalize in the 65th minute as Scotty Taylor got the ball at his feet 12 yards from goal, but lifted his shot over the bar.

With Duke starting to get into the game and threaten, SMU took the air out of the game with a goal against the run of play in the 68th minute. It was the duo of McLaughlin and Ahlander again with Ahlander being the beneficiary of the pass this time.

"What a shame not to capitalize on our great opportunities to equalize the match," Kerr said. "Then we give a goal away against the run of play that puts them back in the driver's seat. In saying that, we still plugged away and created a couple chances. We just couldn't buy a goal tonight."

Pulisic was even more impressive in the second half as the first, diving to his right to knock a free kick away from goal and coming off his line a number of other times to keep the Mustangs from adding to their lead.

SMU held a narrow 13-11 lead in shots, but Duke managed just four shots on frame in comparison to the Mustang's 10.

The Blue Devils hit the road for the first time this Friday with another top 20 foe in Clemson. The Tigers are coming off a road win at Notre Dame. Kickoff is set for Sept. 20 at 7 p.m., on ACC Network Extra.

#GoDuke