The fifth-ranked men's soccer team traveled to the hostile fields of Clemson for a Sunday afternoon contest. When the battle was over, the Blue Devils had claimed yet another convincing victory.
The Blue Devils (6-1, 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) dominated the Tigers, outscoring them 4-1. Clemson added its own humiliating touch with an own-goal, raising the final score to 5-1 in favor of the Duke.
For Duke, the most impressive player of the game was junior Jay Heaps. Heaps, who was Duke's leading scorer last year, had scored only one goal so far this season. The midfielder made up for it on Sunday, when he led the Blue Devils with three goals.
"It was great for Jay," Duke coach John Rennie said. "He's sort of the competitive heart of the team. He does so much work in midfield, he doesn't have to score the goals. But he did it all today."
What makes Heaps' achievement all the more impressive is that Clemson has only allowed one other hat trick in the history of its program, and that was in 1979.
After a slow first 25 minutes, Duke outshot, outdefended and simply outplayed Clemson for the rest of the game. At the 26:22 mark, Heaps began his scoring rampage with a goal assisted by Ali Curtis and Andy Kwon.
Clemson showed some resistance, as it evened the score just one minute and 47 seconds later.
With nine minutes left in the half, Clemson gained its last real chance to lead the ball game. Clemson's John Wilson was fouled and given the opportunity for a penalty kick. Wojciech Krakowiak's kick, however, was wide right, and Duke was able to regain the lead at 38:46 when Heaps scored again. The missed penalty kick was the turning point of the game for Duke.
"We're an explosive kind of team," Rennie said. "I think the fact that they missed a penalty kick, and we would have been down 2-1, was kind of a wakeup call. We started to play with intensity."
Freshman midfielder Stephen Pate slipped another goal in with only 1:07 left in the half, and the period ended with Duke ahead 3-1, rather than the 2-1 Clemson lead the Blue Devils seemed so close to.
As the second half began, Heaps completed his hat trick almost immediately. Pate assisted on what was to be Duke's final goal of the game.
The Tigers sealed their own tomb after 53:19, when, while trying to clear the ball from the danger area, a Clemson player scored on his own goal. This lifted the score to 5-1 in favor of the Blue Devils, and was the way the game would end.
Duke outshot their rivals 18-12, and sophomore keeper Atli Knuttson was able to stop three of the four shots that entered his territory.
Despite Duke's convincing victory, Rennie insists that the game could have gone either way.
"Clemson is a very good team, and it was a very even game the whole time," Rennie said. "We started six freshman because [sophomore forward] Troy Garner got a heel injury on Friday."
Due to this unanticipated loss of a starter, the coaches shuffled many players from their normal lineup positions. They moved regular midfielder Andy Kwon to forward and defender Evan Whitfield to midfield. To replace Whitfield, they started freshman defender Nii-Amar Amamoo.
Garner's injury is not considered serious. Garner could have played on Sunday, if needed, Rennie said, but was never called upon. He should be back for Wednesday's game against Appalachian State.
More distressing for the Blue Devils is a pulled hamstring by freshman defender Dwayne Harris. Harris's injury came during Sunday's game, and its extent is not yet known. He could miss anywhere from a few days to a few weeks of action.
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