The men's soccer team got a little of what it needed and a little of what it didn't this weekend at the UCLA Pacific Soccer Classic in Los Angeles.
What it needed was a 4-1 win over Cal State-Fullerton (10-7) Friday that virtually locked up an NCAA Tournament bid for the Blue Devils. What No. 6 Duke (14-4, 4-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) did not need was a 4-2 loss to No. 3 UCLA Sunday afternoon.
The Bruins (15-2) jumped out to a 3-1 halftime lead and held on for the win behind a pair of goals and an assist from McKinley Tennyson, Jr. and three assists from Seth George.
Junior midfielder Jay Heaps scored both Duke goals. The first on a rebound off a Josh Henderson shot in the first half and the second coming off a pass from Stephen Pate at the 66:38 mark.
"We played very well in spots," Duke coach John Rennie said. "We were down 3-1 to start the second half but played a whole lot better and got a goal to make it 3-2. We were actually putting a lot of pressure on UCLA. Then we made a mistake in the back and they scored the fourth goal and that was just too much to come back from."
Some sloppy passing at midfield cost the Blue Devils a chance to compete for the win as the Bruins' Nick Theslof took a pass from George to score the insurance goal.
"We have to do a better job maintaining possession," Rennie said. "We do a good job going forward, but we gave up some goals where they were able to steal the ball in the middle of the field. We gave the ball away too much.
"UCLA has a veteran team and they will punish you if you make a mistake."
Friday, Duke made short work of a Titans squad that had defeated UCLA earlier in the year. The Blue Devils got a quick pair of goals from Troy Garner, both assisted by Evan Whitfield and then a third from Steve Maynard with 20 seconds left in the first half. Freshman Ali Curtis scored 16 seconds into the second half to give Duke a 4-0 cushion.
"That was a game we really had to win in order to lock up an NCAA bid," Rennie said. "We played very well. It was 4-0 about a minute into the second half and we were able to play a lot of people with that lead."
Back on the east coast, events were taking place that may have had even more significance on Duke's postseason prospects. Maryland lost 1-0 to Clemson Sunday afternoon, preventing the Terrapins from taking the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title outright. There is now a season-ending logjam at the top of the conference between Duke, Virginia and N.C. State. Rennie said he believes the tie breaker goes to goal differential in a multi-team tie, which would give the Blue Devils the title and a critical first-round bye in the ACC Tournament, which begins Nov. 13 in Orlando, Fla.
After that, Duke should get its bid to the NCAAs, where it is likely to face off against at least one of the heavyweights-UCLA, Virginia and No. 1 Indiana-that it faced, and lost to, already this year.
"I think we've played the very best teams in the country this year," Rennie said. "When the tournament comes, hopefully we will have learned our lessons and be ready to beat them instead of just play them.
"It was a good trip. Now the semester is over and it's time for exams."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.