In the first legitimate test of the young season, the second-ranked Duke men's soccer team passed with flying colors against its opponents, but still lost a frustrating battle against Mother Nature.
Playing in the adidas-MetLife Classic at the University of Indiana, the Blue Devils did not give up a goal in three halves of play, defeating No. 3 Southern Methodist 2-0 on Saturday and playing No. 7 Indiana to a scoreless tie in a half before the game was canceled due to adverse weather conditions on Sunday. Sunday's game will not count in the standings.
As a result, the Blue Devils (2-0) finished second in the tournament with their one tournament victory. UCLA won the tournament as a result of their two tournament wins.
Weather continued to haunt the Blue Devils, even after they escaped the path of Hurricane Fran. The hurricane forced Duke to miss its last two days of practice in Durham before flying to Indiana, and it forced them to postpone their flight to the tournament. As a result, Duke arrived at their hotel at midnight on the night before their first game.
An unrelated storm pattern then developed over Bloomington on Sunday, forcing the Duke-Indiana game to be canceled after a 55-minute rain delay at halftime.
In the one half of play, the Blue Devils attempted four shots to Indiana's five, but none found the back of the net.
"That first half was played pretty even, and it was shaping up to be a good game," Duke head coach John Rennie said. "But then the storm came in and just sat on top of the field for an hour."
Duke's defense also shone in Saturday's 2-0 win over the third-ranked Mustangs. Duke allowed only six shots on goal, while Duke keeper John Morton saved three of them.
But SMU played well also, as Saturday's game was largely a defensive battle in which Duke only managed eight shots. But the Duke offense came through on its few opportunities, scoring one goal in each half.
Andy Kwon put the Blue Devils on the board nine minutes in to the game with a header from 12 yards out off of a cross from Brian Kelly.
The score stayed that way until the 64th minute, when freshman Troy Garner nailed a 25-yarder over SMU goalie Tom Presthus.
"It was a very even, very well-played game," Rennie said. "We just found a way to score and they didn't."
Despite the impressive play against two highly-ranked teams, the Blue Devils returned to Durham frustrated.
"We really wanted to play that second half," Rennie said. "It was a let down to not be able to finish the game because we were playing well."
Rennie also attached no extra significance to the weekend in terms of its impact on the rest of the Duke season, despite the team's good play against high quality opponents.
"It was just a good beginning [of the season]," he said. "We learned a lot about our team. Some young guys played well, and so did guys playing new positions. It's a very good beginning, but that's all it is."
Duke forwards Brian Kelly, Josh Henderson and Troy Garner were all named to the All-Tournament team, and Garner was given the Fair Play Award for good sportsmanship.
The Blue Devils return to action next weekend, as they host the MetLife-adidas Soccer Classic at Duke Soccer Stadium.
They will take on Akron on Saturday and American University on Sunday. Both games are slated for 7 pm starts.
"We're really anxious to get back on the field," Rennie said. "It's been a tiring last three or four days... and we're pretty fried. We're looking forward to coming home and playing."
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