Blue Devils Go Ahead Early, Advance to ACC Quarterfinals

Wednesday, November 1

Durham, N.C.

Duke University

11-3-2, 4-3-1

Boston College

3-9-5, 0-5-3

Boston College

Duke

Photo by: Bri Shaw, Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Go Ahead Early, Advance to ACC Quarterfinals

11/1/2023 8:57:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Drew Kerr Interview John Kerr Interview

DURHAM – The eighth-ranked and fifth-seeded Duke men's soccer team went ahead early and held on late to defeat 12th-seeded Boston College, 3-2, to advance to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday evening at Koskinen Stadium.

The Blue Devils (11-3-2) move on to the quarterfinals to face Clemson on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m., live on the ACC Network in Clemson, S.C.

How It Happened
•   The Blue Devils got on the board quickly as Nick Pariano placed a perfect corner kick to the head of Antino Lopez at the 2:03 mark. It marked Lopez's second goal of the season.
•   After Duke attempted the first two shots of the match, Boston College outshot the Blue Devils 8-6 for the rest of the first half.
•   Both goalkeepers netted four saves each in the first 45 minutes.
•   At the 53:03 mark, Pariano found some open space just outside the box to open the second half, but the Eagles' goalkeeper Brennan Klein was there to make a diving stop to his right.
•   Duke went ahead, 2-0, in the 61:01 mark as Ulfur Bjornsson blasted a right-footed attempt towards the left post. Klein tried to make a diving stop, but the ball went off his hand and into the side of the net off an assist from Drew Kerr.
•   A minute and 30 seconds later, Kerr used some fancy footwork to get past a Boston College defender and into the box. Kerr drove towards the endline and sent a perfect cross in front of the goal to a wide open Ruben Mesalles, who finished his fourth goal of the season and seventh of his career.
•   Duke's defense clamped down on the Eagles' offense as the Blue Devils attempted the first 10 shots of the second half.
•   After an excellent kick from goal by Klein, Christian Bejar was able to win the ball and fire a shot in that was saved by Duke goalkeeper Julian Eyestone, but the rebound came to the feet of Daniel Klaric. Klaric finished the shot past a diving Eyestone at the 79:30 mark.
•   A little over a minute later, Boston College netted another goal off the leg of Bejar to cut the Duke lead to 3-2 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
•   The Blue Devils held the Eagles to only one shot over the final nine minutes to come away with the victory.

Notes
•   Duke's goal at 2:03 into the match was the fastest goal of the season.
•   Nick Pariano posted his seventh assist of the season and 25th of his career.
•   Drew Kerr collected a pair of assists on the night, after entering the night with two assists on the year.
•   For the match, Duke held a 23-14 advantage in shots, including a 15-6 edge in the second half.
•   Ulfur Bjornsson, Pariano, Kenan Hot and Kerr led the Blue Devils with four shots each.
•   Julian Eyestone finished the night with five saves over 90 minutes.
•   Duke has registered 17 goals over the last three matches.
•   The Blue Devils improved to 17-0-4 at home in Koskinen Stadium over the past two seasons.
•   Duke is now 9-1-0 when scoring first and the Blue Devils have scored 34 of their 46 goals in the second half this season.

Quotes
•   "We wanted to get off to a good start. We talked about it before the game. Scoring a goal in the first three minutes – great header and great execution with the cross. Happy to be in the lead, but we let the foot off the pedal and allowed them more time with the ball than what we wanted to give them. They had more kind of geographic advantage here in the first half and we had to sort a few things out at halftime. I thought we did a better job of preventing them from getting space, getting on the ball and turning forward in the second half. We have to make sure we are learning from this experience and the last 10 minutes was disappointing that we gave them a couple of opportunities and we had to stay strong at the very end to make sure we got the victory." – Duke head coach John Kerr
•   "He did well. He has been doing well the past three or four games and getting more playing time. He gives us a big lift off the bench and creates something different. I am very happy with his execution tonight." – Duke head coach John Kerr on Drew Kerr's performance
•   "It feels so good. We practice that pretty much every single day in the morning, getting those balls in behind, crossing and finishing. So being able to do those twice coming off the bench is a great feeling." – Duke sophomore Drew Kerr on registering two assists on the night

What is Next
•   Fifth-seeded Duke will face No. 4 seed Clemson on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m., live on ACC Network in Clemson, S.C.

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