On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon, with the No. 1 ranking on the line, the men's soccer team could not expect its entire lineup to play all 90 minutes against top-ranked Clemson (5-1, 1-1 in the ACC).
So in the 66th minute of play, No. 4 Duke made its first substitution of the day, bringing in midfielders Matt Mayock and Miles Romm. Seven minutes later, Mayock broke a scoreless tie with his first goal of the season and sent the Blue Devils (7-0, 1-0 in the ACC) on their way toward a 2-0 victory at Duke Soccer Stadium.
"It feels great," an ecstatic Mayock said after the game. "I'm just thrilled about it... especially coming off the bench."
The sophomore collected a pass from Jay Heaps in the penalty box and was quickly surrounded by three Tiger defenders. He took several dribbles before lining a shot into the upper right corner of the goal. Freshman Kevin Sakuda was also credited with an assist, his first career point.
Mayock played in all but one of the Blue Devils' games in 1997, starting five and collecting four goals and three assists. In Duke's first five games this year, he had only taken one shot. But yesterday he was one of several Duke subs to contribute to the win.
"With the weather and the type of game it was, you have to use subs," said coach John Rennie, who, based on the sweat stains on his polo shirt, was not spared from the temperature or tension. "It was fortunate for us that ours just played better than theirs."
Early in the first half, the Clemson starters appeared to be playing better than the Blue Devils, keeping the ball on Duke's end of the field and just missing on several opportunities to score. Twice in five minutes, Sakuda faked out a Tiger player in the midfield only to take one too many dribbles and lose the ball, setting up a Clemson charge.
Nathan Rawlins gained possession after such a miscue in the 15th minute and released a low, hard shot, forcing Duke goalie Atli Knutsson to make a diving save. Just over four minutes later, Knutsson had to come out of the goal and Mark Lisi launched a curving shot past him. But, like 10 others, it couldn't find the back of the net, as the Blue Devils' Eric Otto managed to clear the ball and preserve the 0-0 score.
"They were undefeated for a reason," Rennie said of the Tigers. "But it's okay if they're in our end if they're not scoring. They had possession, just not [many] scoring chances."
Duke began to create some scoring chances of its own in the final 20 minutes of the half. But, to hear the Blue Devil faithful tell it, the officials thwarted several of those opportunities. In the 32nd minute, Heaps had the ball in front of the Clemson goal but fell before he could take a shot. The whistle didn't blow, though, and it failed to blow three minutes later when forward Troy Garner stumbled in almost the same place.
Less than a minute had passed before Rennie and the fans were berating the refs once again, this time for not calling offside on Lisi. Knutsson came out of the goal to stop the streaking Tiger midfielder; the ball squirted past him, but Otto kicked it away just before it rolled over the goal line.
When they weren't being screamed at by coaches, players and spectators, the officials were kept busy giving out yellow cards. The two teams combined for 27 fouls in the physical game, and Otto, teammate Evan Whitfield and Clemson's Matt Elliott and Jeff Bilyk all received citations.
Another non-call by the officials set up an insurance goal for the Blue Devils with less than five minutes remaining in the game. Nii-Amar Amamoo and Tiger goalkeeper Josh Campbell, who made eight saves, collided going after a loose ball to the left of the goal. Amamoo thought he might be called for roughing the goalie; several players believed the ball had gone over the end line. But the whistle didn't blow, and Amamoo gained possession and crossed the ball in front of the goal. Freshman Noah Lewkowitz had a chance to convert for the Blue Devils but hesitated, and the ball was cleared to the right.
He quickly got a chance for redemption, however, when Romm recovered the ball and sent it back toward the net, where Lewkowitz deflected it to Heaps. The senior notched his seventh goal in seven games, putting the Blue Devils up 2-0.
"You're always told, from the time you're a little kid, to keep playing until you hear a whistle," Amamoo said of the play.
The sophomore was playing forward for the first time in his Duke career, giving junior Peter Gail a breather. Amamoo played some striker in high school, but his mentality might not be quite right for an offensive player: He said he doesn't like to score since, as a defender, he can't stand the sight of the ball going into the goal.
Amamoo saw time at forward because starter Ali Curtis, the Blue Devils' second-leading scorer, didn't dress for the game. The sophomore is day-to-day with a sprained MCL. Without him Duke still managed two goals against the No. 1 team in the country, beating Clemson for the sixth-straight time.
Now Duke could ascend to the top of the polls after beginning the season ranked ninth. Rennie said he never had any doubts that the Blue Devils were among the nation's best, but downplayed the significance of rankings at this time of year.
"It's just confirming it for us," he said. "It's not surprising to us. Still, it's early in the season and if a team gets tied or upset it's not No. 1 or 2 but No. 14. It's just early-season shuffling, it doesn't mean a whole lot."
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