It was a tale of two halves on Friday night at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
Both teams were held scoreless at the end of 45 minutes, but the second half brought new life for Duke. Senior midfielder Kenan Hot found the head of graduate student Alessandro Arlotti on a cross at the 48:10 mark to open the scoring for the home team. After that, the Blue Devils never looked back.
Great call, coach.
Whatever Duke head coach John Kerr said during the intermission must have resonated with his players. In the second half, the Blue Devils came out with great intensity and were not complacent. They continued to try to win every contested ball, even with a sizable lead.
Kerr, currently in his 18th season at the helm of the Blue Devils, pushed the right buttons and led Duke to their first win over Pitt since 2018 in men’s soccer.
Give them their flowers.
Sophomore defender/midfielder Jamie Kabuusu had a stellar performance for the Blue Devils. Kabuusu scored a goal, saved a goal when redshirt senior goalkeeper Eryk Dymora was out of position and seemed to create chaos for the Pitt backline all game long. In just his second game this season, Kabuusu made his presence felt.
By the numbers.
Pitt only generated two shots on goal during the 90 minutes of play. The Panthers were unable to break through the stingy Blue Devils defense, which made every attempt to attack difficult. They will look to continue their lockdown defensive play in future matches. With the shutout tonight, Duke has not given up a goal in 472 straight minutes.
How will the Panthers respond?
Losing 4-0 is never fun. The Panthers are currently 4-5-2 overall and 0-3-1 in the ACC. It is gut-check time for head coach Jay Vidovich and his squad. A four-goal defeat can bring you closer as a team or drive a team further apart. The Panthers have another road opportunity to bounce back against the currently No. 3-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 9 p.m. But the question is, will they?
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