Collegiate Times

The No. 22 Virginia Tech men's soccer team lost the Duke Blue Devils, 3-1, Friday night at Sandra D. Thompson Field.

Click here for a full photo gallery of the action.

Duke was able to strike first as freshman defender Kyle Bethel scored with 34 minutes left to play in the half. The goal accounted for the only score of the first half. 

Freshman forward Luiz Yamashita looked to tie the game up with 11 minutes left in the first half and was able to shoot past Fitzgerald into the net from five feet out. But as the crowd erupted, the officials called a handball on a frustrated Yamashita - who saw both his goal and shot not count.

With one second left in the half, a caution was issued as freshman defender Tobias Hottner received a yellow card for tripping. The corresponding free kick by Duke was unsuccessful.

Tech was limited to one shot in the first half as junior defender James Gilson was the only Hokie to shoot on senior Blue Devil goalkeeper Brendan Fitzgerald.

The Hokies were able to get on the board in the second half as Hottner netted a ball assisted by midfielder Demanya Dogbey with 38 minutes left, tying the game, 1-1. The assist by Dogbey, a transfer student from Ghana, came in his first match as a Hokie.

"He's a tenacious fighter," said head coach Oliver Weiss of Dogbey. "That's why he played so much. He's also a little older and a little wiser though than most of our other players."

Hokie junior goalkeeper Brendan Dunn could not keep up with the opposing offense, though, as Duke's senior midfielder Grella scored from 20 feet out with 26 minutes left in the second half to untie the game. It was one of seven shots on the game for Grella.

Earlier in the second half Grella shot just inches wide of the right goal post. This time he did not miss as his top shelf left corner shot on Dunn proved to be the difference maker for the Blue Devils who never looked back.

With three minutes left to play in the game, Grella was able to score once more on the Hokies, all but eliminating any hope for a Virginia Tech comeback.

The Blue Devils, who were receiving votes for the Top 25 polls, outshot the Hokies 19-6 in the match.

 "There was a complete lack of determination during several parts of the game," Weiss said. "We showed a little fight and tied the game early in the second half. After we allowed the second goal though, it was like we had nothing left in the tank."

The loss to Duke saw Tech drop to 2-2-1 overall on the season and 0-1-0 in conference play.

The Hokies will travel to Queens, NY to play the St. John's Red Storm in a non-conference match on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. They do not play at home again for two weeks when they host in-state rival Virginia on Friday September 26 at 7:00 p.m.