Duke men fall to Boston College

NEWTON, Mass.-In search of its second ACC road victory of the year, the 12th-ranked Duke University men's soccer team lost a hard-fought 2-0 contest at Boston College at the Newton Campus Soccer Complex. It marks the first time the Blue Devils have lost on the Eagles' home field.

Duke drops to 5-2-0 overall on the year and to 1-2-0 in ACC play. Boston College moves to 5-3-0 overall and 1-1-0 in conference action.

The Eagles attacked from the opening whistle, firing a shot on goal into the hands of Duke goalkeeper James Belshaw. Boston College registered a couple more shots before a chance from Blue Devil sophomore Christopher Tweed-Kent went wide of the Eagle net.

Belshaw came up with another save in the 30th minute to send the squads into the break tied at zero.

After holding a 5-2 edge in shots in the opening 45 minutes, the Eagles broke through with the first goal of the game in the 51st minute. Edvin Worley beat a defender and fed an open Colin Murphy to give Boston College the 1-0 lead.

Duke came right back at the Eagles looking for the equalizer. Ryan McDaniel  got his head on the ball, but his shot was stopped by Boston College Justin Luthy. The Blue Devils continued to put pressure on the Eagles over the next 10 minutes. Luthy came up with a big save again, stopping a Ryan Finley opportunity in the 64th minute. Cole Grossman  got a hold of the rebound, but had it blocked by a Boston College defender.

Grossman and Blue Devil attack pressed forward again in the 78th minute as a shot off the head of Grossman was stopped by Luthy. The Eagles were able to hold off Duke over the next few minutes with a shot from rookie Andrew Wenger  sailing wide of the frame with 4:58 left on the clock.

Boston College iced the victory in the final 33 seconds, winning a penalty kick. Kevin Mejia converted the 12-yard kick to give the Eagles the 2-0 victory.

The Eagles held a narrow 10-8 advantage in shots with Duke outshooting the Eagles 6-5 in the second half. Belshaw made three stops for the Blue Devils, while Luthy also had three saves in 90 minutes of action for Boston College. Duke finished with a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.

Duke will host Southern Conference foe Elon next on Sept. 29 at 7 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium.