Sept. 16, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Duke's Mike Grella was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week after scoring a pair of second-half goals to lead the Blue Devils to a 3-1 victory over No. 22 Virginia Tech in the teams' ACC men's soccer opener.

With the victory, Duke pushed its win streak to three games with the Hokies being the second victory over a ranked opponent for the Blue Devils in 2008. The Blue Devils improve to 3-2-0 on the season and 1-0 in ACC play.

After the Hokies registered the equalizer (1-1) in the 52nd minute, Grella took the lead of the game with the senior's fourth goal of the season, a ball he shot to the left corner to beat Tech's goalkeeper Brendan Dunn, giving Duke the lead 2-1.

Grella added an insurance goal with 3:13 left in the game as the Glen Cove, N.Y., native took the ball from nearly 25 yards from the goal and beat a defender one-on-one, curling it with the outside of his foot to the left corner.

The Hermann Trophy candidate now has a league-high five goals and an assist for 11 points through five games this season. He is halfway to his goals total from last season through the first five games this year. In addition, Grella has tallied 25 shots on the young season, a mark that tops all ACC players by more than five.

Duke resumes non-conference play today, hosting Davidson (Tuesday, Sept. 16) at 7 p.m. ET.