The Blue Devils have spent the entire season quietly rising through the rankings, and now they stand undefeated, on top of the collegiate soccer world.
Next up for Duke in its quest for an NCAA championship: Winston-Salem for the ACC tournament-an event the Blue Devils have never won. With a first-round bye, the top-seeded Blue Devils got to watch yesterday's action between fifth-seeded UNC and fourth-seeded Clemson from the comfort of the bleachers.
The rest Duke received may prove even more valuable, since North Carolina went to double-overtime before Matt Laycock's goal lifted the Tar Heels into the semifinal game against Duke.
"If you get to the finals, it's proven to help because the other team had played three games in four days," coach John Rennie said Wednesday. "On Thursday, we get to sit and watch the two teams' style of play and prepare for what they will
UNC (12-5-1, 3-3-1 in the ACC) will take advantage of its height and play an air-oriented attack against the Blue Devils-something they tried to do in Chapel Hill, but failed.
"After a team plays you and loses, they will always change how they play," Rennie said. "The conference has a lot of good teams this year, there are about five teams that could win and it wouldn't be a big upset. It is a very even field."
If Duke wins today, it will face the winner of tonight's game between Wake Forest and Virginia in the finals. The championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
A victory in the ACC tournament would solidify the Blue Devils as the top seed for the NCAA tournament, thus giving them home field advantage until the national semifinals in Charlotte.
"We love playing at home," senior captain Peter Gail said. "We've played all our best games at home this year. We play well and the fans are great-it's an incredible atmosphere at Koskinen Stadium."
The team started the year at No. 16 in the polls and picked to finish fourth in the ACC, but through the leadership of tri-captains Gail, Troy Garner and Robert Russell, the team has achieved remarkable success.
"We've been stressing all season to focus on the next game at hand," Gail said. "Usually there are natural letdowns following big wins, but we haven't allowed any lackadaisical training this year. Some of our best competitions have been against each other."
"The great thing about this team is that if someone decides to double-team me, I just find the open man, and they score," Curtis said. "They always have to contend with the other guys open because they are just as good. If we execute like we have all year, we are going to win."
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