Blue Devils Defeat Princeton, 2-0, on Monday Afternoon

Monday, September 4

Princeton, N.J.

4 p.m.

Duke University

3-0-1, 0-0-0

Princeton

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Duke

Princeton

Blue Devils Defeat Princeton, 2-0, on Monday Afternoon

9/4/2023 6:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

PRINCETON, N.J. – The No. 3 Duke men's soccer team secured a victory in its first road test of the season on Monday afternoon, defeating Princeton 2-0. The Blue Devils (3-0-1) got second-half goals from Ulfur Bjornsson and Wayne Frederick to help the team move to 3-0-1 on the season while Cameron Kerr tallied the first assist of his season, setting up Bjornsson's goal. Freshman goalkeeper Julian Eyestone made two saves en route to his second shutout of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Forster Ajago nearly scored his sixth goal of the season early on, as Nick Pariano found Ajago on a through ball, but the Princeton goalkeeper made a sprawling save to keep the Blue Devils off the board
Ruben Mesalles nearly connected on a long-distance free kick in the ninth minute, but another diving save by the Tigers kept the match scoreless.
Ajago found the back of the net in the 16th minute off a cross from Cameron Kerr but was ruled offside.
Princeton's best opportunity of the first half came with less than 10 minutes until the break, but the Tigers' header rolled wide of the goalpost.
Duke finished the first half with a 13-5 advantage in total shots, including a 5-1 edge for shots on goal, but the two teams remained deadlocked, 0-0, at the break.
The Blue Devils took the lead, 1-0, as Ulfur Bjornsson headed the service from Cameron Kerr into the back of the net in the 50th minute.
Wayne Frederick extended the lead in the 57th minute, blasting home a volley that fell to his feet after a cross from Cameron Kerr was deflected by a Princeton defender.
The Duke offensive attack continued to pepper Princeton's defense, taking 15 total shots in the second half, but the scoreline remained the same after the full 90 minutes of play.

NOTES

The goal scored by Ulfur Bjornsson was the first of his Duke career.
Wayne Frederick scored the first goal in his 2023 season and the second of his career.
Duke finished the game with 28 total shots, including 13 on goal.
Cameron Kerr recorded the first assist of his season, setting up the first goal of the afternoon. He was also the distributor for the second goal, but did not receive an assist due to a deflection by Princeton.
The shutout by Julian Eyestone is the freshman's second of the season and lowers his goals against average to 0.75 through four contests.
The son of head coach John Kerr, Cameron now has six assists during his career in Durham.
The Blue Devils' two goals pushes their goal differential to plus-10 in 2023.