# 2023 Duke Blue Devils men's soccer team

The 2023 Duke Blue Devils men's soccer team represented Duke University during the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Blue Devils were led by head coach John Kerr, in his sixteenth season. They played their home games at Koskinen Stadium. The team was founded in 1935 and played the 2023 season in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Blue Devils finished the season 11–4–3 overall and 4–3–1 in ACC play to finish in third place in the Coastal Division. As the fifth overall seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated twelfth seed Boston College in the First Round before losing to eventual champions Clemson on penalties in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and were awarded the fifteenth overall seed. Being a seeded team, they received a bye into the Second Round where they were defeated by Western Michigan to end their season.

## Background

The Blue Devils finished the season 13–2–4 overall and 5–0–3 in ACC play to finish in first place in the Coastal Division. As the first overall seed in the ACC Tournament, the received a bye into the Quarterfinals where they were upset at home by eighth seed Clemson. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and were awarded the seventh overall seed. Being a seeded team, they received a bye into the Second Round where they defeated Denver and then FIU in the Third Round before being upset by unseeded Creighton in the Quarterfinals.

## Player movement
### Players leaving

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Eliot Hamill | 1 | GK | 6'2" | 175 | Graduate Student | Scarsdale, New York | Graduated |
| Peter Stroud | 8 | MF | 5'10" | 145 | Junior | Chester, New Jersey | Signed Professional Contract with New York Red Bulls |
| Scotty Taylor | 9 | FW | 6'0" | 157 | Senior | Millburn, New Jersey | Graduated |
| Josh Kim | 13 | MF | 5'11" | 165 | Freshman | Whitestone, New York | — |
| Shakur Mohammed | 14 | MF/FW | 5'10" | 160 | Sophomore | Kumasi, Ghana | Drafted 2nd overall in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft |
| Santa Ihara | 17 | MF | 5'11" | 145 | Junior | Tokyo Japan | — |
| Carl Fisher | 20 | MF | 6'0" | 160 | Senior | White Plains, New York | Graduated |
| Daniel Aguilar | 21 | MF | 6'1" | 175 | Senior | Baltimore, Maryland | Graduated |
| Alex Bonnington | 30 | FW | 6'1" | 180 | Freshman | Rotherham, England | Transferred to Boston University |
| Peter Wentzel | 31 | GK | 6'3" | 205 | Graduate Student | Ettlingen, Germany | Graduated |

### Players arriving
#### Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Cameron Fisher | 14 | MF | 6'0" | 175 | Graduate Student | Scottsdale, Arizona | North Carolina |
| Forster Ajago | 21 | FW | 6'2" | 178 | Graduate Student | Navrongo, Ghana | Dayton |
| Fahmi Ibrahim | 26 | FW | 6'0" | 175 | Graduate Student | Alameda, California | California |

#### Recruiting Class

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club | TDS Rating |
| Ulfur Bjornsson FW | ISL | Hafnarfjörður, Iceland | Hafnarfjarðar | N/A |
| Julian Eyestone GK | USA | Dallas, Texas | FC Dallas Academy | |
| Nathan Gaviser GK | USA | Edgemont, New York | FC Westchester | N/A |
| Bull Jorgensen MF | NOR | Asker, Norway | Kongsvinger | N/A |
| Andrew Myerson MF | USA | Issaquah, Washington | Eastside FC 04 ECNL | N/A |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of January 29, 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 0 | GK | USA | Grant Farley |
| 00 | GK | USA | Jacob Hochstein |
| 1 | GK | USA | Julian Eyestone |
| 2 | DF | USA | Amir Daley |
| 3 | DF | USA | Kamran Acito |
| 4 | DF | NIR | Lewis McGarvey |
| 5 | MF | USA | Antino Lopez |
| 6 | MF | USA | Cameron Kerr |
| 7 | MF | USA | Felix Barajas |
| 8 | MF | NOR | Bull Jorgensen |
| 9 | FW | ISL | Ulfur Bjornsson |
| 10 | MF | USA | Nick Pariano |
| 11 | FW | BER | Jai Bean |
| 12 | MF | USA | Ruben Mesalles |
| 13 | FW | USA | Jose Ortega |
| 14 | MF | USA | Cameron Fisher |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | FW | USA | Krew Verratti |
| 16 | MF | USA | Luke Thomas |
| 17 | MF | TRI | Wayne Frederick |
| 18 | MF | USA | Bryce Barnum |
| 19 | DF | USA | Sintayehu Clements |
| 20 | MF | USA | Andrew Myerson |
| 21 | FW | GHA | Forster Ajago |
| 22 | MF | USA | Drew Kerr |
| 23 | MF | USA | Kenan Hot |
| 24 | DF | ISL | Axel Gudbjornsson |
| 25 | FW | USA | Miguel Ramirez |
| 26 | FW | USA | Fahmi Ibrahim |
| 28 | MF | USA | Sebastian Docters |
| 29 | DF | USA | Nate Mulvaney |
| 30 | GK | USA | Nathan Gaviser |
| 32 | MF | USA | Jackson Lagos |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Athletic Director | Nina King |
| Head coach | John Kerr |
| Associate head coach | Michael Brady |
| Assistant Coach | Kyle Renfro |
| Volunteer assistant coach | Tristan Wierbonski |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 12* 4:00 p.m. | No. 4 | at UNC Asheville | W 3–0 | — | Greenwood Soccer Field Asheville, NC |
| August 16* 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | UNC Wilmington | W 4–0 | — | Koskinen Stadium Durham, NC |
| August 18* 4:00 p.m. | No. 4 | at No. 17 Georgetown | T 2–2 | — | Shaw Field Washington, D.C. |
| Regular season ||||||
| August 25* 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | Jacksonville | W 3–1 | 1–0–0 | Koskinen Stadium (1,023) Durham, NC |
| August 27* 2:30 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | Furman | W 6–0 | 2–0–0 | Koskinen Stadium (1,129) Durham, NC |
| August 31* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | Wofford | T 2–2 | 2–0–1 | Koskinen Stadium (645) Durham, NC |
| September 4* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 3 | at Princeton | W 2–0 | 3–0–1 | Roberts Stadium (1,200) Princeton, NJ |
| September 8 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 10 | Virginia | W 2–0 | 4–0–1 (1–0–0) | Koskinen Stadium (1,569) Durham, NC |
| September 15 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | No. 8 | at Clemson | L 0–2 | 4–1–1 (1–1–0) | Riggs Field (2,953) Clemson, SC |
| September 24 4:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 11 | at North Carolina Rivalry | L 1–2 | 4–2–1 (1–2–0) | Dorrance Field (2,858) Chapel Hill, NC |
| September 26* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 21 | Charleston | W 3–2 | 5–2–1 | Koskinen Stadium (418) Durham, NC |
| September 29 7:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 21 | No. 7 Syracuse | W 5–3 | 6–2–1 (2–2–0) | Koskinen Stadium (1,524) Durham, NC |
| October 7 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 14 | at No. 11 Notre Dame | L 0–1 | 6–3–1 (2–3–0) | Alumni Stadium (1,451) Notre Dame, IN |
| October 10* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 15 | Elon | W 3–0 | 7–3–1 | Koskinen Stadium (559) Durham, NC |
| October 13 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 15 | NC STate | W 2–1 | 8–3–1 (3–3–0) | Koskinen Stadium (1,457) Durham, NC |
| October 21 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 9 | at No. 23 Pittsburgh | T 0–0 | 8–3–2 (3–3–1) | Koskinen Stadium (1,180) Durham, NC |
| October 24* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 8 | Howard | W 7–0 | 9–3–2 | Koskinen Stadium (523) Durham, NC |
| October 27 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 8 | Virginia Tech | W 7–1 | 10–3–2 (4–3–1) | Koskinen Stadium (1,367) Durham, NC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 1 6:00 p.m., ACCN | (5) No. 8 | (12) Boston College First Round | W 3–2 | 11–3–2 | Koskinen Stadium (435) Durham, NC |
| November 5 6:00 p.m., ACCN | (5) No. 8 | (4) No. 14 Clemson Quarterfinals | T 3–3 (1–4 PKs) | 11–3–3 | Riggs Field (435) Clemson, SC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 19 1:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (15) No. 8 | No. 16 Western Michigan Second Round | L 1–2 | 11–4–3 | Koskinen Stadium (1,213) Durham, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Nick Pariano | Pre-Season All-ACC Team | August 26, 2023 |
| Forster Ajago | ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week | August 29 |
| Julian Eyestone | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | September 12 |
| Nick Pariano | ACC Offensive Player of the Week | October 3 |
| Forster Ajago | ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week | October 17 |
| Forster Ajago | ACC Offensive Player of the Year | November 8, 2023 |
| Forster Ajago | All-ACC First Team | November 8, 2023 |
| Nick Pariano | All-ACC First Team | November 8, 2023 |
| Ulfur Bjornsson | All-ACC Second Team | November 8, 2023 |
| Amir Daley | All-ACC Second Team | November 8, 2023 |
| Julian Eyestone | All-ACC Second Team | November 8, 2023 |
| Antino Lopez | All-ACC Third Team | November 8, 2023 |
| Ulfur Bjornsson | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 8, 2023 |
| Julian Eyestone | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 8, 2023 |

## 2024 MLS Super Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Wayne Frederick | Colorado Rapids | 1 | 2 | MF |
| Antino Lopez | Seattle Sounders FC | 2 | 52 | DF |
| Ruben Mesalles | Real Salt Lake | 3 | 84 | DF |
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | 4 (1) | 3 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 20 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 5 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |