This is both the end and the beginning. Everything the men's soccer team has accomplished means nothing. The undefeated regular season and ACC tournament title are in the past. Now it's win or go home.
Duke opens the NCAA tournament with a first-round match-up against 19th-ranked Maryland-Baltimore County (19-0-2) at Koskinen Field this Sunday at 1 p.m.
The NCAA tournament works on a system in which teams play opponents in their region. Thus, despite being the No. 1 team in the country, the Blue Devils drew one of only two other undefeated team in the tournament.
Duke goalkeeper Jeff Haywood admitted that this was not the draw the Blue Devils had anticipated.
"[We are] a little bit surprised," he said. "You have to remember that there are regional considerations in soccer, so that was probably a factor, and certainly their strength of schedule is why the selection committee is putting them against the No. 1 team in the country."
UMBC won the Northeast Conference Championship to the NCAAs, beating Lafayette. That game went even longer than the ACC title game, as UMBC survived 120 minutes of regulation play and four 15-minute overtimes before winning 6-5 in penalty kicks.
But when the Blue Devils face the Retrievers Sunday, they may also be facing the demons left over from being upset in the first round of the NCAAs by Jacksonville last season.
Duke was the heavy favorite that afternoon, playing against a Jacksonville team in its first-ever NCAA tournament. But when forward Nesa Stefanovic scored in the 60th minute, it gave the Dolphins a 3-2 lead they would hold onto for the win.
Coach John Rennie said that the success this season, and the victory in the ACC tournament has pushed away thoughts of last year.
"We lost in the ACC final last year, and then had a disappointing NCAA tournament," he said. "[But] winning the regular season, to us that is a championship, and the ACC tournament is a championship. That gives us two in our minds. So there is one more to play for. We're not thinking about last year at all."
While UMBC is ranked nationally, the Blue Devils are the best team in the country, and are playing their best soccer of the season.
With this in mind, Haywood said that the focus in this game is not the opponent, but rather making sure the Blue Devils play their game.
"We definitely have to be prepared; last year we were shocked." he said. "It's a similar situation to last year in that we know very little about the opponent. We have to come out and dictate the pace of the game."
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