Sports > October 25, 2007

By Connor Swarbrick | Staff writer

The Deacon men’s soccer team continues to roll. The team bettered its ACC record by defeating Duke Oct. 19 and impressively clearing Coastal Carolina Oct. 21. The showdown in Durham pitted the No. 1 Deacons against the No. 15 Blue Devils.

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Junior Marcus Lahoud attempts to move the ball past an Elon defender Oct. 2. Lahoud was named Soccer America Player of the Week Oct. 23. (Haowei Tong/Old Gold & Black)

The Deacons struck quickly. In the eighth minute, sophomore Cody Arnoux scored his team-high 10th goal of the season.

Senior Julian Valentin headed the ball at midfield to gain possession for the Deacons.

Junior Michael Lahoud controlled the ball off the header and fired a pass to Arnoux who found the back of the net.

In the 26th minute junior Jamie Franks passed the ball to Arnoux who centered it to junior Marcus Tracy.

Tracy netted the ball from 15 yards out to put the Deacons up 2-0.

Just minutes later Lahoud scored his third goal of the season when he put back the rebound from Arnoux’s shot.

The Deacons went into the half leading 3-0 and that would hold as the score for the remainder of the match.

This was the first time the Deacons have beaten Duke since 2003.

“Those guys have beaten up on us a little bit over the years and its just a great feeling,” said redshirt senior Brian Edwards, “We just came to play and everything clicked.”

The Deacons improved their record in the ACC to 4-0-1 while Duke dropped to 2-2-1 in the conference and 7-0-5 overall.

The Deacons Oct. 21 match in Conway, S.C., would prove to be little challenge.

Junior Lyle Adams gave the Deacons an early lead once again. He scored in the seventh minute off of a corner kick from junior Sam Cronin.

For the second straight game the Deacons had a 3-0 lead at halftime after two goals from Tracy at the 24 and 33 minute marks.

Edwards got a rare goalkeeper assist in the 62nd minute when his save led to a goal from sophomore Austin da Luz.

It was the first of the season for da Luz.

Just two minutes later da Luz assisted on Valentin’s first goal of the season. The goal gave the Deacons a 5-0 lead that would stand as the final.

The statistics back up the Deacons’ No. 1 ranking. They are 25-0 in scoring the last five matches.

This scoring outburst has them leading the nation in offense while Edwards has helped the Deacons lead the nation in shutout percentage.

The teams W-L-T percentage is also first among all Div 1-A soccer teams.

“It’s definitely a great combination we put up goals and we don’t give up a lot and that could lead to a lot of wins.” Edwards said.

“Our forwards are just going out of control.”

The Deacons, now 10-0-2, received all 16 first place votes to remain No. 1 in the country this week, but they do not top the ACC rankings.

The Deacons will face the No. 13 ranked Boston College Eagles, who lead the ACC with a record of 5-0-0 and an overall record of 9-3-3. The game is set for 7 p.m. Oct 27 in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

After the Boston College game the Deacons’ will close out the regular season with three home games against UNC, Davidson and No. 12 Virginia.

“I think we look really sharp right now and that is obvious with the results we have been getting,” Edwards said.

“We have four games left and we want to gain some momentum going forward into the tournament.”