There must be a second-round jinx.
It is not as bad as being on the cover of Sports Illustrated, but for the men's soccer team, four previous tries at the College Cup during the John Rennie administration have resulted in aborted second-round trips.
Yesterday's second round match was no different. In the drenched, frigid conditions of Stevenson Field in Providence, R.I., the men's soccer team lost 1-0 to the Brown Bears (13-5-1) on a 56th-minute goal from Bears midfielder Scott Powers.
The weather, which was described as monsoon-like, was a huge factor in the game.
"The whole game revolved around the weather," Rennie said. "I know both teams had to play in the weather, but it certainly played a large part. It was one of the worst conditions to coach under."
Even with the rain pouring and the wind howling, the Blue Devils (15-6) came out firing and gained a distinct advantage when Brown defender Adam Buchanan was ejected in the 23rd minute for an "intent to injure" penalty. The ejection gave Duke an 11-on-10 advantage for much of the game.
Despite the one-man edge, Brown was still able to blast a goal past senior keeper Jeff Haywood. Near the beginning of the second half, Bears midfielder Anders Kelto found Powers at about 25 yards out. His fellow senior co-captain then hit a rocket that bolted across the box and beat Haywood. After that, the Bears let their stellar defense seal the win.
"We did our best," Rennie said. "We played hard, we tried hard, but we didn't really get a chance to play and it's just an empty feeling."
The Blue Devils outshot Brown 12-9 on the game, but neither team was able to do much in front of the goal thanks to great saves from both Haywood and Brown keeper Matthew Cross.
After the goal, Duke did not go down quietly. The Blue Devils, who lost their man advantage when star defender Nii-Amar Amamoo was ejected for "dissent" in the 74th minute, made one valiant attempt to gain the equalizer in the 84th minute.
With Cross slightly out of goal, the Blue Devils found their most prolific scorer in history, Ali Curtis, with an open shot. Curtis took the ball and hit it on a clear path to the goal, but it was stopped on the line by Brown defender Scott Fellus, who cleared the ball to close out the win.
"[Duke] really didn't get a chance to earn a win or earn a loss," Rennie said. "[We] really didn't get a chance to play."
The loss marks the end of the Blue Devils' season and the final game for a core of seven seniors that were instrumental in Duke's recent soccer success. Leaving the Blue Devils include tri-captains Curtis, Amamoo, Robert Russell and also Haywood, Dwayne Harris, Ryan Furgurson and Steve Pate.
"You've got to look toward the future, but I feel tremendous sadness for these seven seniors," Rennie said. "They really didn't get a chance in the NCAA tournament to play a game; both games, it was just a survival situation."
Adrienne Mercer contributed to this story.
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