Duke tops UNCG, 3-0, in men's soccer exhibition match

GREENSBORO, NC – Sophomore Mike Grella had a goal and two assists to lead Duke to a 3-0 win over UNC Greensboro in an exhibition men’s soccer match in front of a crowd of 1,772 at UNCG Soccer Stadium on Wednesday night.

Being the exhibition season, both teams played a lot of players in the match. The Blue Devils played 24 players, including two goalkeepers. UNCG used 24 players, including two goalkeepers, all but one of which played at least 30 minutes. The Spartans were also without midfielder Jokull Elisabetarson, who is in Austria with the Icelandic Under-21 squad and will join the team next week.

Duke opened the scoring at 19:32 when Joe Germanese scored off a feed from Grella for a 1-0 lead. Grella make it a 2-0 advantage just 3:14 later when he got loose behind the defense to chase down a long feed from Kyle Helton. Grella then beat UNCG keeper Nate Berry 1-on-1, chipping it over Berry’s head for the tally.

Zach Pope closed the scoring when he took a feed from Grella at the top of the box, took two dribbles to his right and hit a blast from 15 yards out at the 56:27 mark.

Duke outshot UNCG 16-9 for the night, although each team had seven shots on goal. Duke’s Justin Papadakis made seven saves in goal during the first half.

Duke will face Connecticut in another exhibition match Saturday at 7 pm back in Durham. UNCG will play a scrimmage with a group of alumni this Saturday before opening the season Friday, August 25 against Jacksonville at UNCG Soccer Stadium at 7 pm.

AGATE

Duke University.....  2  1 -  3

UNC Greensboro......  0  0 -  0

SCORING SUMMARY: DU - Germanese (Grella), 19:32; DU - Grella (Helton), 22:46; DU - Pope (Grella), 56:27

Shots: Duke 16, UNCG 9; Saves: Duke 7 (Papadakis 7), UNCG 4 (Berry 1; Janda 3); Corner kicks: UNCG 3, Duke 2; Fouls: UNCG 10, Duke 14. exhibition match

- UNCG -