The statistics include 346 wins, a .705 winning percentage and ninth place on the NCAA all-time wins list. The honors include National Coach of the Year, five-time ACC Coach of the Year and 26 All-American players. Coach John Rennie is an institution in men's collegiate soccer, and during tonight's home game versus rival Virginia he will be honored in his 25th year at Duke University.
"I'm delighted it's occurring during the game against Virginia, because that's been one of the rivalries in college soccer for a long time, so I think it fits in very nicely," Rennie said.
Goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge echoed Rennie's sentiments on tonight's matchup, dubbing it the "biggest in college soccer." Trowbridge teams with a defense that has not allowed more than three goals in any single game, yet he feels that they have been inconsistent.
"At times defensively we've played very well and at times we let down," Trowbridge said. "I think our last game was a tremendous defensive effort, and hopefully we can keep that going."
Duke will have to shut down a UVa offense led by Adam Cristman and Mike Littlefield, each of whom has eight points on the season. The duo will lead the No. 25 Cavaliers in the 71st matchup between the teams, with Virginia holding a slight 33-30-7 lead.
"Coach Rennie is one of the pioneers of college soccer," UVa head coach George Gelnovatch said. "His vision for the sport, along with his success over the years, have helped shape college soccer into what it is today. Our conference is recognized as the top college soccer conference in the country largely because of his efforts."
On the offensive side of the ball, the Blue Devils have had trouble accumulating a solid attack, which had a lot to do with the nine-game winless streak snapped last Friday against N.C. State. In the win, Rennie changed up the offensive strategy, moving senior Jordan Cila back to the midfield.
"By moving back there I can get more involved, creating more opportunities for some other guys and so far it's been working," he said. "We've been trying some different guys up top and we've been getting a lot more opportunities in our games, so hopefully more opportunities will lead to more goals."
Asked about the offense, Rennie thought the team had a great game against the Wolfpack.
The team health, on the other hand, has made Rennie a little nervous going into tonight's game, noting that Matt Ahumada, Nigi Adogwa and Kyle Helton are questionable for action.
"We just have to be ready when the game starts and the history of this game is that it gets very intense, very quickly, so we just have to be ready for that," he added.
Rennie is relaying this message to his team, as Cila explained.
"The key against them is that we're going to have to come out as hard as we can at the very beginning of the game, stay intense and stay hard," he said. "I think the beginning of the game will dictate the rest of the game." Trowbridge has a similar feeling on the way the game will play out.
"They're a very physical team, and we plan on matching their physicality. We're just going to come out and play hard, and it's going to be a war. That's what we're hoping for."
This game against UVa will go a long way toward establishing the direction of the team going into the ACC Tournament. Despite the forgettable season up to this point, running the table in the ACC tournament would guarantee a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
"I think everyone's still excited because we still have a shot at the ACC championship right now," Cila said. "We want to be the team that no one wants to play."
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