CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Revenge may be sweet, but this time around, the men's soccer team didn't quite get it.
The semifinal round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament proved to be a pitched battle during which both Duke (12-7, 4-4 in the ACC) and Virginia (17-1-3, 5-0-2 in the ACC) exchanged dominance. In the end, however, the No. 1 Cavaliers pulled it out in overtime to squeak by the Blue Devils with a 3-2 victory on Friday night.
The game-winning goal came 12:17 into the first overtime period, when Virginia midfielder Ben Olsen served a pass to midfielder Bill Lanza. Lanza then crossed the ball to forward Matt Leonard, who headed it into the open side of the net.
The first goal of Friday's contest was dZj^ vu for the Blue Devils: the play was an exact repeat of Duke's first goal of Thursday's quarterfinal match against Clemson. At the 20:59 mark, sophomore midfielder Jay Heaps received the ball from freshman Gaston Haupert, penetrated the Wahoo defense, and snuck it past an unsuspecting sweeper to freshman forward Troy Garner, who drove it home to take the early lead.
"I didn't plan it, it just kind of happened that way," Heaps said. "Because of a great ball by Gaston, I was able to get through the defense. One defender came towards me, but it was an easy layout to Troy."
The Blue Devils could not relish this lead for long, as, less than eight minutes later, Virginia forward Brian West sent the ball into the center of the box, where All-American midfielder Billy Walsh took the pass and launched it into the back of the net.
Duke bounced right back from this setback. Eighty seconds later, Heaps once again crossed the ball to Garner, who attempted to repeat his previous goal. The Cavalier defense was alert this time, however, and they managed to deflect Garner's attempt. But sophomore defender Josh Henderson nailed the deflection home to regain the lead for the Blue Devils.
Walsh then struck again at 41:42, heading a corner kick from midfielder Mike Fisher dead-center into the net to knot the game up for the duration of regulation time.
Friday's game was a physical war right from the onset. Shoving and tripping abounded, and Walsh even ripped Heaps' shirt. Overall, Duke collected 28 fouls and five yellow cards, while the Wahoos amassed 25 fouls and two yellow cards.
In one particularly controversial standoff, sophomore defender Evan Whitfield was fighting Olsen for possession of the ball when Olsen slugged Whitfield in the mouth. Whitfield went down, taking Olsen with him. Furious because referee George Vegana did not call a foul on Olsen, Whitfield protested the lack of a call and was himself given a yellow card. Duke coach John Rennie joined in the argument with Vegana, and when Rennie refused to back off the field, Vegana also gave him a yellow card.
Another skirmish occurred at the conclusion of the second overtime period, when freshman midfielder Wes Dowd tried to head a Yuri Sagatov save out of Sagatov's hands and into the goal. With less than ten seconds remaining, several Cavaliers ganged up on Dowd, and a melee ensued.
Revenge was definitely a factor in the match, as Duke was looking to avenge a 6-1 loss to the Wahoos that occurred during the regular season.
"It was a pretty emotional game," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "Duke played a hard, physical game tonight. They were playing for their lives, but we weren't about to back down. It wasn't the prettiest soccer game, but it was a feisty game, it was hard fought and that's what championship soccer is all about."
Despite suffering a heartbreaking loss, the Blue Devils were satisfied with their effort and their communication as a team. They showcased strong efforts on the offensive and defensive ends, but when the final whistle blew, the ball had not bounced their way.
"We played great as a team," Whitfield said. "Things didn't go as we wanted at the end, but I was happy with the team effort. I thought everybody played well."
Duke will have to wait until the at-large bids are announced to find out whether it will advance to the NCAA Tournament. Although they failed to subdue the Wahoos, the Blue Devils still believe that their effort and intensity on Friday demonstrated that they have what it takes to contend with the best.
"I think we deserve to be in, but it's not up to us," Rennie said. "We'll have to wait and see... The NCAA bidding will take care of itself. We can't control that. The only thing we could control is how we did [Thursday] and [Friday], and I thought we did very well."
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