Sometimes a break is all you need.
After spending two weeks recovering from a string of disappointing losses to end its regular season, the men's soccer team (12-6, 4-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) pulled itself together to win 3-1 on Thursday night in the first round of the ACC Tournament, soundly defeating No. 14 Clemson (10-7-2, 2-4-1).
Duke's dominance began when, at 15:53, sophomore midfielder Jay Heaps served a pass to freshman forward Troy Garner, who lofted it into the net to take the Clemson defense by surprise and end the dry run.
"It was exactly what we wanted to do," Heaps said. "I got the ball cut to the middle. He had a great run to open up space for me. I think their defender thought I was going to go through, and I just got it to Troy and he finished it."
About four minutes later, Duke coach John Rennie made a seemingly clairvoyant decision that proved to be a incredibly lucky one for the Blue Devils: he substituted freshman forward Peter Gail for junior Matt Shattuck.
Immediately following this switch, senior forward Brian Kelly launched a corner kick. In his first contact with the ball for the game, Gail found the back of the net for the first time this season.
Despite being faced with a formidable combination of energetic newcomers and seasoned veterans, Clemson refused to throw in the towel. Assisted by junior Tony Williams, freshman forward Chad James drilled the ball past Atli Knuttson and into the net to narrow the gap to one at 33:07. For the remainder of the half, the Blue Devils appeared to be trapped in their defensive zone, continually deflecting the Tigers' near misses.
"After our second goal, they sent their sweeper forward and we found ourselves in a defensive shell," Heaps said. "They were coming at us and they got the goal. That was a letdown, but it helped us to realize what we can do in the second half."
When the second half began, Duke broke out of that shell. Feeling pressure and realizing that they could not rest on their laurels with a one goal lead, the Blue Devils regained control of the game.
"When they scored that one goal, we knew we couldn't sit on two goals," Shattuck said. "Both teams were attacking pretty well on both ends of the field. We knew we had to keep our composure and keep attacking."
Duke solidified its lead when Shattuck, back on the field, received the ball from Garner and broke away from the pack. Although his first shot was deflected by Clemson goalie Matt Jordan, he finally drove it home with a distracted Jordan 40 yards out from the goal.
This win should increase Duke's odds of getting an NCAA Tournament bid.
"We realized it's now or never," Rennie said. "I think we deserve to be in, but whether or not we are is up to the committee."
The Blue Devils will continue their quest for the ACC title Friday at 7 p.m. when they battle No. 1 Virginia (15-1-3, 4-0-2) in the semifinal round at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. The Cavaliers defeated Duke 6-1 during the regular season, so the Blue Devils will be seeking revenge.
"It's something that we've definitely wanted to do," Heaps said. "We've thought about it a lot. We knew we had to come beat Clemson to do it, so we pushed it to the back of our minds, but now it's in the forefront."
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