DURHAM, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's soccer displayed a gritty effort in a 1-0 setback to No. 19 Duke on Tuesday evening at Koskinen Stadium.
Appalachian (3-5-1) held its second ranked ACC opponent ( No. 4 Wake Forest - 9/12) in Duke (7-1-1) to a scoreless first half despite the Blue Devils firing away on 10 shots and three shots on goal in the stanza. The Mountaineer defense bent but didn't break for the first 57 minutes until Brian White gave the hosts their only goal of the game to take the lead, 1-0. The one goal scored by Duke ties a season low at home this season.
"Another game where we didn't get what we wanted, but we there were many positives that we will take from the game and build on," head coach
Jason O'Keefe said following the match. "Duke is a well-coached team that is enjoying a great season. We will recover, get back to work tomorrow and prepare for another well-coached squad in High Point, who is coming off their best performance of the season against UNC Asheville."
With less than a minute left in the contest, App had possession on offense including a corner kick with 14 seconds left in the match, but the offense wouldn't get a shot off.
John Walrath registered the team's only shot on goal in the opening stanza, while the Black and Gold tallied three shots on the evening.
Jake Chasteen was active all night, as he came away with four saves on Duke's 19 shots. Aside from allowing three scores to then-No. 4 WF, the defense has allowed one or zero goals in six of the past seven matches and six of nine matches overall.
App State will return to action and aim to get into the winning column when it hosts in-state foe High Point on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Ted Mackorell.
