By the time freshman defender Robert Russell headed a corner kick into the net with 17:22 remaining in Wednesday night's game, the men's soccer team was already well on its way to a 5-0 victory over the College of Charleston, and the crowd at Duke Soccer Stadium could concentrate on enjoying Russell's animated celebration.
Which, based on how the two team's seasons have been going, was how it should be. After all, Duke, ranked seventh in the country, came in with a 4-1 record, while the Cougars had struggled to an 0-3 start. Just last year, however, the College of Charleston knocked off the visiting Blue Devils 1-0-one of Duke's four losses in its final five games, which insured that what was once the No. 1 team in the nation would fail to make the NCAA Tournament.
"[They're] not having a good year, but they always give us a tough time," said Blue Devil coach John Rennie. "Our players know it. We've lost to them, and they were ready for us. But I wasn't worried."
And, as it turned out, he had no need to be. Duke's 1997 edition, which is now 5-1, continued its solid play Wednesday, controlling the game from the outset and recording its fourth shutout in five games. The Blue Devils kept the pressure on the Cougars (0-4) for much of the first half, but couldn't get on the board until junior midfielder Josh Henderson snuck through College of Charleston's defense and guided the ball past goalie Kevin Asmann 15:24 into the game. Russell was credited with the assist.
With 4:11 remaining in the half, junior midfielder Jay Heaps threaded a pass in front of the goal for Henderson. Asmann came out of the goal to challenge the Duke midfielder, and the ball ricocheted to sophomore forward Troy Garner, who deposited it into the empty net for a 2-0 lead, which the Blue Devils would carry into halftime.
"They're a good defensive team," Rennie said. "They work very hard. We got 10 shots to zero on goal in the first half, and that's a great half."
Duke outshot the Cougars 27-2 for the game, and Asmann's strong play, which included 11 saves, prevented the Blue Devils from scoring much more than their five goals.
Just 1:38 into the second half, freshman midfielder Ali Curtis was taken down in front of the College of Charleston goal and converted his subsequent penalty kick for a 3-0 Duke advantage. The score gave him seven goals and 16 points on the season, both of which lead the team.
Twenty-six minutes later, Russell scored the first goal of his collegiate career off senior Andy Kwon's corner, and marked the occasion by doing his best Curtis impression, sliding in front of the Blue Devils' bench.
"Being a defender and not getting many chances," Russell said, "I thought I'd just go a little wild."
Leading 4-0, Rennie was able to empty his bench, with 19 players getting into the game. Freshman midfielder Matt Mayock scored his second goal of the season with 5:32 remaining, with the assist going to seldom-used senior Steve Maynard.
Under pressure all game long, the Cougars played a physical style, racking up 21 fouls to Duke's 16.
"All you can do is show them the same intimidation," Russell said. "You have to play hard and let them know that you can take it."
Blue Devil junior defender Evan Whitfield was issued a yellow card in the first half, and sat out the second as a precaution. Rennie praised freshman Nii-Amar Amamoo for stepping up in Whitfield's place.
Duke will have little time to savor last night's victory, as it travels to South Carolina this weekend to face a strong Clemson team.
"We're getting better each game," Rennie said. "That's about all we can hope for right now. We've got a very, very big game on Sunday at Clemson, it will be very difficult. We'll find out Sunday how far we're going. Right now we're pretty happy."
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