By ERIC FRIEDMAN
and YVONNE KRYWYJ
When two strong opposing forces collide, something has to give.
When the No. 1 ranked men's soccer team (4-0) takes on No. 14 Clemson on Saturday night, the featured matchup will be between the thus far impenetrable Duke defense, which has yet to give up a goal this season, and Clemson's prolific offense, which is headlined by the leading scorer in the nation.
The Duke defense has stonewalled its opponents so far this year. Leading the way for the Blue Devil defense have been junior goalie John Morton and sophomore sweeper Evan Whitfield, two key cogs from last season's national finalist machine. However, it has not just been these two players carrying the Duke defensive effort-the whole team has played a role in shutting out its opponents.
"The whole team is playing quite well defensively," head coach John Rennie said. "We haven't given up any goals, which certainly isn't going to continue, but we've limited the scoring chances very well. The only thing we'd like to be doing better is scoring goals ourselves."
The Duke attack, expected to carry the team this fall, has been slow to develop. The offense is led by three potential All-Americans in senior Brian Kelly and sophomores Josh Henderson and Jay Heaps. The Duke offense made strides towards fulfilling its scoring potential last Sunday, when Henderson notched two goals against American after a slow offensive performance by the Blue Devils in Saturday's 1-0 win over Akron.
"We're looking real good," Henderson said. "Saturday we were a little rusty because we didn't have practice because of the rain. Sunday we came out strong. American's a good team. We played well and got the victory."
In contrast, Clemson has had little trouble finding the back of the net. The Tigers (4-1) are one of the nation's leading offensive machines, scoring 11 in their opener against UNC-Asheville. The catalyst for Clemson's attack is senior forward Jeff Yenzer, who leads the nation with 10 goals this season.
In addition to the Tigers' potent offense, Clemson will be motivated by a particularly intense rivalry between the Tigers and the Blue Devils that extends beyond Duke's traditionally intense Atlantic Coast Conference rivalries. The teams have had extremely physical, hard-fought games in their past few matchups, and the same is expected Saturday night.
The Blue Devils will be spurred on by an intent to begin their ACC season with a victory. While Duke has already dealt with a tough non-conference opponent in SMU, the Blue Devils believe they will need to step up their level of play in order to hold their own throughout the challenging ACC season.
"It's the start of a brand-new season," said Rennie. "Now we're in the conference season. It's a whole different thing than playing non-conference, out-of-region teams. These games in some ways count more than even playing SMU. The real season is here now."
Further fueling Duke's drive to win is its recently acquired No. 1 ranking. So far the Blue Devils have successfully dealt with the pressure of being the top-ranked team in the nation. A victory over Clemson will further solidify their status at the top of college soccer.
"It makes you a target," Rennie said. "If [Clemson] can knock off a team that's ranked No. 1, it's a big feather in their caps. I'm sure it's a motivational factor for Clemson. Our motivation is to stay there. They're coming in trying to take something away from us. We want to keep it."
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