No. 3 Duke Finishes Regular Season Undefeated, Secures Top Seed in ACC Tournament

Friday, October 28

Blacksburg, Va.

6 P.M.

Duke University

11-0-4, 5-0-3

Virginia Tech

2-13-1, 0-8-0

Duke

Virginia Tech

No. 3 Duke Finishes Regular Season Undefeated, Secures Top Seed in ACC Tournament

10/28/2022 10:40:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score ACC Tournament Bracket Final Game Book

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The third-ranked Duke men's soccer team secured its first undefeated regular season since 1999 on Friday night, defeating Virginia Tech 1-0 at Thompson Field. With the victory, the Blue Devils (11-0-4, 5-0-3) clinched the ACC Coastal Division title outright and earned at least a share of the division crown for the second season in a row. Duke enters the upcoming ACC Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed for the first time since 2006.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Duke placed its first shot on goal in the sixth minute, with Nick Pariano forcing a save from the Virginia Tech goalkeeper.
Possession was exchanged between the two teams in the middle third of the field for a majority of the first half.
Duke increased the offensive pressure in the 25th and 26th minutes, with Antino Lopez and Shakur Mohammed taking shots.
Scotty Taylor opened the scoring for Duke in the 27th minute, slotting home his third goal of the season off assists from Nick Pariano and Peter Stroud.
The Blue Devils nearly put home their second goal of the half, but the Virginia Tech goalkeeper made a diving save in the 41st minute to prevent Felix Barajas from scoring off a Luke Thomas service.
Mohammed was presented with a good opportunity in the 42nd minute but was denied his 10th goal of 2022 with yet another sprawling save by the Hokies.
The Blue Devils unleashed four shots in the first 12 minutes of the second half but were unable to find the back of the net.
Mohammed created a strong scoring chance in the 70th minute, but had his shot blocked by a Virginia Tech defender.
Virginia Tech's goalkeeper denied Thomas from scoring the evening's second goal in the 73rd minute with a diving foot save.
The Blue Devils defensive line continued to hold strong as the second half wound on, forcing Virginia Tech's limited shots to end up off target.
The Hokies' first shot on goal came in the 88th minute but the powerful shot attempt was stymied by Eliot Hamill.

NOTES

Duke completed its first undefeated regular season since 1999 and is the first ACC team to go undefeated in conference play since Wake Forest in 2017.
The Blue Devils outshot the Hokies overall, 14-6, and held a 6-1 advantage for shots on goal.
Duke earned eight corners compared to zero for Virginia Tech.
Scotty Taylor notched his second game-winning goal of 2022 and the third of his career.
After setting up Taylor for the goal, Nick Pariano now has a team-high seven assists this season. Peter Stroud's assist was his fifth of the year.
Eliot Hamill logged his 11th clean sheet of the year to move the graduate student into solo fourth-place in program history for shutouts in a season.

QUOTES

"It didn't just start with the preseason in August. It started when we lost our last game last season against Saint Louis. We wanted to do one better. Each segment of the regular season and now we're going to go into the ACC Tournament and then also the NCAA Tournament, we wanted to do better than we did last year. So far, we've done great to go through the season undefeated." – head coach John Kerr on how Duke motivated themselves throughout the season.
"We've played a lot of tough games. This was another tough game tonight. Virginia Tech gave us a real run for our money and were up for it. They're a good team and they worked their tails off. Coach Brizendine really had them ready tonight. Hats off to them. At the end of the day, we got the win. We sought out the game at the end and made sure that we got the victory. Really, really proud of these guys. They're going to rest up and we're going to start preparing for the ACC Tournament." – Kerr on how Duke secured the victory against Virginia Tech.
"Coach Kerr says it all the time. When you get your opportunity, you have to be ready to capitalize on it. I'd like to say that I did that, but at the end of the day, I'm just really proud of this team and what we've done." – Scotty Taylor on starting the match and scoring the game-winning goal.

UP NEXT

Duke enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 1 seed, earning a first-round bye. The Blue Devils are scheduled to play their first game of the postseason at 8 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 6 at Koskinen Stadium against the winner of No. 8 Clemson and No. 9 Notre Dame,

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMSOC".

#GoDuke