Duke looks to be crowned king of collegiate men's soccer world for the first time in 16 years when it starts the NCAA tournament against No. 25 William & Mary at 6 p.m. tonight at Koskinen Stadium.
The Blue Devils are coming off a rare drought from the postseason, as the program struggled through 2001 to an uncharacteristic 8-10-1 record. Duke began 2002 with a vengeance, however, storming to a 9-3-1 record that included victories over then-No. 2 Clemson and defending national champion North Carolina.
And though the Blue Devils have tapered off since then due to an influx of injuries, the swagger has returned to the men's soccer program, the former ACC tournament champions and 1986 National Champions.
"We have to get Duke to what Duke used to be," sophomore Owoicho Adogwa said. "We owe coach some victories."
A win over William and Mary will be a royal pain, as the Tribe has gone 13-7-1 against one of the toughest schedules in the nation. Most notably, William & Mary has played No. 1 Maryland, No. 2 Wake Forest and No. 4 Indiana. And while the Tribe lost all three games by the combined score of 8-2, they were able to do something Duke has failed to do twice this season--beat Virginia. The No. 11 Cavaliers defeated Duke in the regular season and most recently in the ACC tournament, a one-sided slugfest that has left many Blue Devils vengeful.
Oddly enough, the winner of Friday's contest will play Virginia in the second round of the NCAAs.
"If we win this game Friday we play Virginia at Virginia, which is going to be a brawl," defender Adam Guren said. "It would be a good game. We owe them big time after the games we've played so far."
Guren's mentality is indicative of that of his teammates, as is his emphasis on the importance of playing one game at a time.
"We can't play Virginia unless we win on Friday, so we've got to keep Friday in mind and make sure we get that one done," he said. "Virginia is kind of in the back of our minds, but we've got to stay focused on William and Mary."
Led by All-American candidate Ralph Bean, who has tallied 10 goals and 11 assists, the Tribe has outscored opponents 41-26 in 2002. Bean is supported by Carlos Garcia and Andreas Nydal who have combined for 17 scores 11 assists.
The triumvirate runs a patient offense that tries to tediously break down defenses. In anticipation of this offensive scheme, Duke has altered its game plan.
"We switched the formation up a little bit," Guren said. "We're going to play four in the back and we should be more solid defensively...Because they're so good at possessing the ball, instead of letting them play through us we'll probably sit a little bit and keep the ball in front of us so we can counter more."
Adogwa and junior Jordan Cila have led Duke offensively all year, and will be expected to continue bearing the onus Friday. Their responsibility will be a little greater, though, as All-ACC performer Trevor Perea is still hampered by a quad injury. His status is being evaluated on a daily basis, and whether or not he plays will be determined at game time.
A seven-day layoff since Duke's last game has allocated some recuperation time for Perea and his teammates to regroup and refocus.
"We took a little time off over the weekend and just physically and mentally recovered," coach John Rennie said. "The practices this week have been very sharp. We're just continuing to hopefully get our team better."
And according to co-captain Donald McIntosh, to get one more shot at the vaunted Cavaliers.
"We're definitely not looking past the game Friday, but we would love to see Virginia again," he said.
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