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Duke men's soccer rebounds with 3 first-half goals against Pittsburgh

<p>Max Moser scored Duke's second goal, in the 15th minute Friday.</p>

Max Moser scored Duke's second goal, in the 15th minute Friday.

Coming off a futile offensive night in which none of 20 shots found the back of the net against High Point, the Blue Devils flipped the script against Pitt Friday.

No. 14 Duke converted on all three shots on goal in the first half to take down the Panthers 3-1 on Senior Night Friday at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils got off only eight shots on the day, less than half their season average, marking an unusually efficient offensive night. 

Pitt became testy, especially towards the end of the game—the game was marred by six yellow cards and one red card in addition to a total of 30 fouls committed on the night. But while the Panthers lost their cool, the Blue Devils stayed composed to get back in the win column.

“We were disappointed with our performance on Tuesday, for sure,” head coach John Kerr said. “We wanted to bounce back quickly, and we did.”

Duke (9-4-1, 4-2-0 in the ACC) got on the board in a hurry. In the 10th minute, freshman midfielder Issa Rayyan dribbled the ball from midfield all the way to the goal line, weaving around five Pitt defenders in the process before hitting a tremendous left-footed shot across goal and into the bottom right corner. Five minutes later, the Blue Devils struck again. Freshman defender Ian Murphy delivered a line-drive cross from the left side to the far post, where junior midfielder Max Moser headed the ball past the keeper.

“Coach Kerr has been telling me since freshman year that I should make back-post runs,” Moser said. “Tonight, the ball came perfectly to the back post, and I just had to tap it in. It was an amazing cross from Ian [Murphy]. I just had to stand there and head the ball in, so it was pretty easy on my part.”

Duke’s press limited Pitt (7-8-0, 2-5-0 in the ACC) to brief counterattacks, nearly all of which were dealt with by a meticulous Blue Devil defense. One looked like a sure Panther goal, but Pitt midfielder Fiorre Mane’s sliding stab at the ball from four yards out went nowhere thanks to sophomore goalkeeper Will Pulisic.

Just before halftime, a dirty slide from Mane earned Pitt its third yellow card of the half and gave Duke a free kick 30 yards out from the left side. Sophomore midfielder Kristofer Gardarsson swung a ball to the near post, which junior midfielder Nicolas Macri headed in for his first goal of the season. The Blue Devils held a 3-0 lead heading into halftime, the first time that had happened since August against San Diego.

Pitt came out gunning after halftime, dominating possession in the first 10 minutes out of the locker room. Sophomore forward Edward Kizza got the Panthers on the scoreboard with a rocket from 18 yards out. It marked the 13th goal of the season for Kizza, tied for fourth in the nation. 

A hard collision in the 67th minute near the edge of the Duke box, though, left Kizza and Duke defender Aedan Stanley lying on the ground. Kizza was given a red card and exited the game while Stanley stayed in the game. Down to 10 men, Pitt fought admirably,  to hold off Blue Devil attacks. The Panthers earned their fourth yellow card of the game and committed nine fouls in the second half while holding Duke scoreless in that period.

“Frustration set in, which was to be expected,” Kerr said. “We just had to keep our discipline and make sure we were smart with our movements and didn’t do anything stupid.”

Curiously, none of Duke’s three scorers had scored more than one goal on the season prior to Friday. The Blue Devils had several opportunities to pile onto the Senior Night victory after the red card, but junior midfielder Daniele Proch—Duke’s leading scorer—and junior forward Colby Agu couldn’t finish off easy chances near the end of the game. 

Still, the team can be satisfied with the rediscovery of their scoring touch and another ACC win. Duke will play its last regular season home game against No. 5 North Carolina 7 p.m. Tuesday at Koskinen Stadium.

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