On the surface, Duke’s Friday night matchup against Columbia (1-0-1) in the Duke/adidas Classic appears to be like any other regular season game. For the second week in a row though, the Blue Devils (3-0) will play a match that bears additional meaning for head coach John Rennie. In his 26th year at Duke, Rennie will square off for the first time against the team with which he started his Division I head coaching career.
“I’m just looking forward to it,” Rennie said. “Last week we played Temple and they were my alma mater so it was interesting playing against [them]. I’m sure it will be mixed emotions playing against the team I used to coach, but it will be a great experience for me.”
In 1973, the 27-year-old Rennie took over a program at Columbia that was not in the best of shape. His first three seasons at the school were tough, as the Lions only mustered four wins over that stretch. Through hard work and perseverance though, Rennie turned the program around, and in 1978 the team won its first Ivy League Championship. In the wake of this accomplishment, Duke offered Rennie its head coaching position, and he moved from New York to Durham.
What makes the matchup more intriguing, however, is that Rennie’s successor at Columbia, Dieter Ficken, remains the coach there to this day. Following Rennie’s departure, Ficken built on what his predecessor started and turned Columbia into the premier soccer power of the Ivy League. The school won seven consecutive Ivy League Championships from 1979 to 1985, and one more in 1993.
However, Dieter is not the only area head coach that Rennie has maintained a relationship with over the years. During the past few seasons, Rennie has grown close to Seth Roland, the head coach of No. 17 Fairleigh Dickinson. So, when the time came to determine the teams for this year’s Classic, the decision was fairly easy to make.
“We just thought it would be fun to play,” Rennie said. “So of course, Farleigh Dickenson is another northeast, New York metropolitan team… so we just thought that I’d be kind of like… [a] New York versus the ACC sort of thing.”
Although Duke has outscored its opponents 18-0 over their first three games, Coach Rennie and his team acknowledge that its success has come largely against competition that is weaker than its opponents this weekend.
“We realize the competition is going to be a little bit better and we’ll be prepared for that,” said junior midfielder Blake Camp, the team’s leading scorer against St. Francis last Sunday.
The Blue Devils, however, do not plan any radical departures from their normal routine and will continue to look to capitalize on their tremendous depth up front.
On the defensive side of the ball, freshman Tim Jepson has drawn much of the attention for his stellar play as Duke’s starting sweeper. Jepson’s teammate in the backfield, sophomore Danny Miller, said Jepson has shown “not only good defending, but great leadership as well.”
Jepson, Miller, senior Mike White and the rest of the defensive unit will be hard-pressed to continue their shutout streak against a potent Columbia offensive, which features sophomore forward Scott , the Lion’s co-leader in goals last season and two time recipient of the Ivy League’s Rookie of the Week honor in 2003.
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