Devils advance in NCAA soccer

DURHAM -- The rains cleared but left a soggy pitch that couldn't slow Duke as it beat Winthrop 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament at Koskinen Stadium on Thursday night.

Making its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance, Duke (13-6-0) had failed to advance out of the first round in each of the last two seasons.

"It's nice to move on and have that winning feeling again," Duke coach John Kerr said.

Duke freshman Ryan Finley scored the Blue Devils' first goal since Halloween, a two-game scoreless drought, in the third minute. Junior Nick Sih crossed the ball to Finley, who scored from 10 yards out into the left side of the goal past freshman goalkeeper Enrique Miranda. It was Finley's team-leading 10th goal of the season.

"Anytime you're in a win-or-go-home game it always helps to go up early," Finley said. "It pretty much dictated the first half."

Senior forward Trae Harrison extended the lead to 2-0 with a header, his second goal of the season. ACC Freshman of the Year Andrew Wenger assisted with an entry pass from near midfield.

Winthrop (11-6-4) came into the game with the 10th-best scoring offense in the nation, averaging 2.05 goals per game. It was only a matter of time before the Eagles turned on the offense. The time was 56:13. Winthrop cut its deficit to one on a goal from 18 yards out by senior forward Said Abdi, his third of the season.

Duke regained its two-goal lead in the 73rd minute on the first goal of senior Ryan McDaniel's career, a 20-yard strike into the upper-left corner.

"I guess it was a little bit dramatic," said McDaniel, whose white jersey was stained brown from a celebratory slide on the muddy field. "I had a terrible touch. ... I kind of had to rescue myself. I got behind it, put it in the back post, and good things happened."

Three minutes later, Winthrop crept back to within one on a header by senior Cameron Alksnis that skipped by freshman goalkeeper James Belshaw.

"They scored a good goal to give them belief," Kerr said. "They played well the last 25 minutes of the game and gave us fits."

Winthrop fell to 0-3-1 all-time in the NCAA tournament. The Eagles have never advanced out of the first round.

Duke will take on Michigan State (11-7-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday in East Lansing, Mich.

"We came out very well in the first half and kind of got complacent in the second half," McDaniel said. "We'll go to work in practice and make sure we're up for both halves up in Michigan."

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