If moral victories counted as wins, Duke would have an impressive record.
Playing No. 8 North Carolina, the Blue Devils (2-5-1, 0-3 in the ACC) lost to the Tar Heels 3-2 in double overtime and prolonged their winless streak to six games.
Throughout the season, Duke has not caught a break. A terrible penalty call on a dive handed Maryland a 1-0 lead on Sunday. And on Wednesday the referees did not see the hand of a Tar Heel player redirect the game tying shot into the goal. During the six-game slide, Duke has only lost by a combined margin of five goals.
"It comes down to who gets the last goal, who gets a break, who hits a great shot, and it didn't happen for us," Duke head coach John Rennie said after the UNC defeat. "That's kind of the way our season has been going."
On Friday, Harvard (2-1-2) travels to Durham for the battle of the SATs. So far this season, Duke has played a much stronger schedule----four out of the five Blue Devil losses have come against ranked teams.
In contrast, Harvard has lost to the unrenowned Hartford, and tied the unintimidating Fairfield and Vermont. The Crimson have also not won a road game thus far this season.
The one standout on Harvard is senior Kevin Ara. The star midfielder earned third-team All-America honors as a junior, despite missing a month of the season due to a knee injury. This season he has scored two goals, and is very much a candidate for first-team All-America honors.
Despite this bright spot on the Crimson, Duke is clearly a more skilled team. But as their record dictates, the Blue Devils have not always capitalized against teams with less talent.
Against the Campbell Camels (1-5-1), Duke only managed a 1-1 tie despite outshooting its opponent 23-7.
Besides not capitalizing on scoring opportunities, a glaring weakness of the Blue Devils this season has been their inability to start the game on the right foot.
Against UNC, Duke opened the match lethargically. The Blue Devils only started playing with a purpose after the Tar Heels netted the first goal.
With only ten games before the ACC tournament, it is as good a time as ever for Duke to turn things around.
"We're going to stay positive," senior captain Matt Ahumada said. "We've got to pick it back up pretty fast."
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