To wrap up its season, the men's soccer team found a pot of dirt where it expected gold.
Duke's accomplishments-a 15-5 record and the capture of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title-were tainted when the NCAA Selection Committee did not grant the Blue Devils a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"It was just a good overall season," coach John Rennie said. "We were ready to continue on and make it a great season. But it was very unexpectedly cut short."
With a win against tournament-bound Clemson and an undefeated record in the South Region, almost everyone in college soccer was virtually certain that the Blue Devils would get a bid.
"Every part of the college soccer world, from the small media to USA Today, from the smallest conference to Division I, was shocked," Rennie said. "They all knew that it wasn't correct and that it could happen to them."
Duke jumped out to a 4-0 start this season, beating 10th-ranked Penn State along the way. From the early games, the Blue Devils were clearly fielding a team different from an underacheiving 1996 squad.
The difference was the freshmen that started every game. Some combination of freshmen Nii-Amar Amamoo, Ryan Furgurson, Dwayne Harris and Robert Russell always formed Duke's defensive line and Ali Curtis was a regular contributor to the offense.
"The freshmen were a great blend of youth and experience," Rennie said. "They added quality of play and a new enthusiasm-both of which were very positive."
Curtis made his mark when Duke faced its first significant challenge in top-ranked Indiana. Playing at home in front of a packed stadium, the Blue Devils nearly upset the Hoosiers on Curtis' goal but eventually fell 2-1.
In its first ACC match-up on Sept. 21 against Clemson, Duke made an auspicious debut in the traditionally-tough ACC. Junior Jay Heaps, returning to his 1995 Freshman All-American form, recorded a hat trick to help the Blue Devils to a 5-1 win.
But the leadership of Heaps and classmates Josh Henderson and Evan Whitfield was not enough to carry the Blue Devils past their perennial spoiler, Maryland.
Duke hadn't beaten Maryland since 1993, and this season was no exception. The Terrapins disposed of the Blue Devils 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 28.
"Maryland is one of those weird match-ups," Rennie said. "For the last five or six games, we haven't been able to beat them."
After the Terps' upset, however, Duke steamrolled its competition for nearly a month. Goalie Atli Knuttson paced the Blue Devils with shutouts against North Carolina, Wake Forest and N.C. State. Duke laid claim to first place in the ACC with a 1-0 win over the Wolfpack on a Henderson penalty kick.
Duke lost to No. 6 Virginia and No. 3 UCLA in two of its final four games of the season and finished 15-5 and 4-2 in the ACC.
After the regular season, seven Blue Devils received All-ACC honors. Curtis and Heaps were named to the first team. Whitfield, Henderson, Garner and Russell earned second-team honors. Rennie earned the ACC Coach of the Year award.
With a first-place finish in the regular season, the Blue Devils were awarded a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament, where they once again fell victim to the Terrapins, a deflating blow.
"Losing to Maryland twice is inexcusable," Whitfield said. "We were making the same mistakes over and over again-letting men go by, ball watching, drifting to the ball side."
That loss would be the final game for seniors Andy Kwon, Steve Maynard and Matt Shattuck.
Kwon, a co-captain, ended his Duke career with a goal and an assist against Maryland and tallied nine goals this season.
"I'm just glad [the seniors] were here in 1995," Rennie said, "When we played in the NCAA Championship game and in front of the largest crowd ever to witness a college soccer game when we upset Virginia in the semifinals.
"They were shortchanged this year, but at least they'll remember [1995] for the rest of their lives."
The Blue Devils are already determined to make sure next year's seniors do not end their season in a similar fashion.
"We're just trying to secure an automatic bid next time and to take the decision out of other people's hands," Whitfield said.
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