AU Men's Soccer Falls to Duke, 3-0, in Duke/Nike Classic Final

Sept. 7, 2008

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. - The American University men's soccer team dropped a 3-0 non-conference decision to Duke on Sunday at the Duke/Nike Classic. The Eagles and the Blue Devils each evened their records to 2-2-0 on the season.

The first 15 minutes of the game were largely controlled by AU, as Cameron Petty had the first scoring opportunity of the game, taking a shot from just outside the 18 yard box just six minutes in that Duke keeper Brendan Fitzgerald had to punch high for a corner kick.

The Blue Devils took possession and forced a pair of corner kicks of their own in the 20th minute, but the Eagles defense denied any real threats, by clearing both and keeping the Duke shot total at zero.

The rest of the half was played in the middle of the pitch with neither team able to generate much offense. AU was able to get into the Duke penalty area a few times, but could not get off a clean shot. The Eagles defense played tremendously tight in the opening 45, denying all of the Blue Devils, including pre-season All-America Mike Grella, any shots on goal.

Just five minutes into the second half, the game took an unfortunate turn, as the Eagles captain and center back Karsten Smith was awarded a controversial red card deep in the AU end of the field to force them to play with 10 players for the remainder of the game. Duke registered its first shot on the day shortly afterwards as Ian Kalis sent a floater on goal that AU keeper Matt Makowski was able to pull in.

Duke continued to press with the man-advantage and picked up a goal from Temi Molinar after the AU defense was unable to clear an errant ball to give the Blue Devils a 1-0 lead with 35 minutes left in the game. Duke would up the score to 2-0 just over two minutes later when Grella had his first opportunity of the day and put the Nick Sih cross past Makowski.

The Eagles refused to give in and continued to go at the Blue Devils defense, taking the next four shots in the game, including two dangerous opportunities from Anthony Moy off the bench. But Duke would seal the game with eight minutes left in regulation when Molinar picked up his second goal of the game to give the Blue Devils a 3-0 win.

Duke took an 8-7 advantage in shots and a 7-6 margin in corner kicks. Makowski finished with four saves, while Fitzgerald made three stops on the day.

"I'm very proud of the way our team played this weekend," said AU head coach Todd West. "When you beat an ACC team 3-0 Friday and hold one of the top teams in the country to zero shots in the first half and no shots until a questionable red card (on Sunday) it shows that our team defending is outstanding and gives us something to build on. The big challenge is trying to replace our two center backs for Friday's game at Princeton, but the team is going to have to step up."

Cooper Bryant and Luis Martinez were named to the Duke/Nike Classic All-Tournament Team for the Eagles.

AU will return to action on Friday when they play at Princeton at 7:30 p.m. for a non-conference game.