Duke Men's Soccer 2022

[Skydog]

…
Hamill was the difference making several fantastic saves down the stretch. Duke looked good in the whole 2nd half.
….
.

Those two sentences don’t fit together.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Those two sentences don’t fit together.

The last save in the final minute was an astonishing attempt and great stop.

[DoubleBlue]

Those two sentences don’t fit together.

I think they do. Duke played poorly for most of the first half but they played even with the #1 team for the whole second half. Goalie play was the difference. Shots were 12-12 in the second half.

[TheTrain]

Don’t agree that they poorly in the first half, but they did play defensively. Hamill played great. Shak’s back to the goal flick header was highlight reel material. The difference for me was that our set pieces were magical. Everything was working tonight on set pieces. Great win.

[TheTrain]

Amazing finish. Hat last save was insane.

Great saves by a great kid. My son got to know him at a Duke Soccer ID camp. My son would tell you as good as he is on the field, he is a even better person off it.

[Skydog]

I think they do. Duke played poorly for most of the first half but they played even with the #1 team for the whole second half. Goalie play was the difference. Shots were 12-12 in the second half.

If your goalie is having to make a lot of fantastic saves then, by definition, your team is not playing great. Great teams allow few dangerous shots on goal.

[sagegrouse]

If your goalie is having to make a lot of fantastic saves then, by definition, your team is not playing great. Great teams allow few dangerous shots on goal.

Yep. All those World Cup teams that lost to Pele and Brazil were just trash. ;-)

[Bluedog]

I think skydog has a point and isn't suggesting that teams losing to Brazil/Pele aren't good. But rather, if Duke has a goalie make several sensational saves to protect the lead, then the rest of Dukes teams didn't look that impressive against the rest of Wake because they allowed those shots in the first place...of course, lucky for us the goalie is a (key) part of the team. But one could suggest we weren't at Wake's level from an o and d perspective because we allowed so many dangerous shots on goal but our goalie saved our bacon.

Note that I have no perspective on this game as I didn't watch it but I understand what skydog is getting at.

[Indoor66]

I don't get this whole discussion. Is the fact that that Duke goalie had to make several saves (which is his role on the team) the rest of the team is unimpressive? Is Wake not trying to score and win the game? I don't understand the logic.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I also don't understand. We just beat the #1 team, and they were playing out of their minds aggressive in the last minutes trying to equalize. We held our ground strategically and also had some very impressive play by our keeper.

None of these are bad things.

[AGDukesky]

I also don't understand. We just beat the #1 team, and they were playing out of their minds aggressive in the last minutes trying to equalize. We held our ground strategically and also had some very impressive play by our keeper.

None of these are bad things.

Yeah, I mean if the game played out like the US-Belgium game in the World Cup where Howard was just constantly peppered in goal all game, then sure that was a team getting outclassed. But if it was just the last few minutes where a desperate team is trying to tie while the other is just protecting a lead, then that is completely different.

[Papa John]

But one could suggest we weren't at Wake's level from an o and d perspective...

Correct. We exceeded Wake's level from an O and D perspective... Which is why we won the game.

[Bluedog]

Correct. We exceeded Wake's level from an O and D perspective... Which is why we won the game.

Hahaha nice. For the record, I'm not trying to argue it one way or the other as I didn't watch the game, just trying to give skydog's argument some legitimacy based on other soccer games I have seen where a team gets outplayed but manages to still win. Sometimes the difference between victory and defeat is one shot that hits the post and ricochets off vs ricocheting into the goal. That's sport though. Soccer is "lumpier" though than some sports because a single goal is so huge.

Certainly one could say a big element of defense is goalkeeping. I have no idea what went down in this one. Victory baby! Yep that's all that matters.

[Papa John]

Hahaha nice. For the record, I'm not trying to argue it one way or the other as I didn't watch the game, just trying to give skydog's argument some legitimacy based on other soccer games I have seen where a team gets outplayed but manages to still win. Sometimes the difference between victory and defeat is one shot that hits the post and ricochets off vs ricocheting into the goal. That's sport though. Soccer is "lumpier" though than some sports because a single goal is so huge.

Certainly one could say a big element of defense is goalkeeping. I have no idea what went down in this one. Victory baby! Yep that's all that matters.

Understood... I watched the game alongside the football game, so my attention was somewhat divided, but from what I saw it was a pretty evenly matched game (as the rankings, stats, scoreboard, and write-ups all demonstrate). I will say that Niang is an extraordinary talent and was quite fun to watch—his last shot forced off the crossbar by Hamill was absolutely amazing.

My take (which perhaps seems to align with some of the other folks below) is that Duke [for various reasons at different points in time during the game] was generally pursuing a more defensive-focused strategy, thus Wake had the slightly better run of play overall but were stymied for the most part in the final third. It seemed like Duke was more conservative in the first half, but opened things up a bit more coming out in the second half, which had the effect of giving both teams some quality runs that resulted in good scoring opportunities and numerous set pieces. Duke did better at capitalizing on set pieces, scoring twice to Wake's once on these. Wake had a second goal due to a PK on a foul right at the edge of the box, and Duke's other goal was due to a poor decision by a Wake defender to play back to the keeper with Bean in good position to force the issue. So it seemed that Wake had the slight edge in possession and overall opportunities in the attacking third, but some of this had to do with the fact that they were constantly playing from behind [at home] and Duke was basically stacking the defensive third in the latter part of the game.

Given all of that, in such a closely contested game between two of the top-ranked teams in the country, it's a bit of a head-scratcher to me that one would say Duke 'played poorly' in the first half, but then even with the #1 team in the second. The reality is that Duke played conservatively and even with the #1 team in the first half, then more aggressively and better than the #1 team in the second... and thus won the game.

[chrishoke]

Duke is ranked #2 in the latest poll.

https://goduke.com/news/2022/10/4/me...st-top-25.aspx

[DoubleBlue]

1-0 Duke over Howard with 11 minutes left in the first half at Koskinen.
Play is stopped due to an injured Howard player. Not sure why but the camera is pointed away showing the other end of the field for over 5 minutes. No audio either.
It looked like the Howard player ran into the end fence and they were attending to his mouth before the camera moved away.

[DoubleBlue]

Play resuming now. According to the announcer the Howard player was taken off in a stretcher. Not sure why they can't show any of that.

[Papa John]

Play resuming now. According to the announcer the Howard player was taken off in a stretcher. Not sure why they can't show any of that.

Is Crash Davis there? Sprinklers just went on during warm-ups prior to restart of play...

"Oh, I can get us a rain out."

[DoubleBlue]

The final is 2-0 Duke with goals by Frederick and Bean.

[DoubleBlue]

Duke at #21 UVA, no score at the half. Very even match thus far.