Head coach John Rennie's highly-touted freshmen class makes its debut tonight in Koskinen Stadium against Emory & Henry in the team's season opener. The Blue Devils are expected to roll over the Division III Wasps, but Emory & Henry's will use a slow-down style to try to hinder the Duke attack.
By the end of today’s men’s soccer team’s 7 p.m. season opener against Emory & Henry at Koskinen Stadium, head coach John Rennie hopes to have learned much more about his team. After playing to draws in two exhibition games, the coach and his team are excited for the start of the season and the chance to improve on last year’s 8-10-1 mark.
“The opening game is for real, it counts and there’s going to be some nervousness,” Rennie said. “We’re going to learn a lot about our team... who can play under the pressure of a real college game, who’s ready to make the adjustment to the quicker pace the higher tempo, playing against older stronger players. Some guys are doing quite well, but it hasn’t been for real, so this is the first time it counts.”
Although Rennie hopes to learn about his team, Duke has not spent much time preparing specifically for its Division III opponent. The Wasps finished last in their conference in 2003 with a 1-14-2 record, and the Blue Devil players believe they will have no problem defeating their less-talented opponent.
“We don’t know much about Emory & Henry and we’re going to try to keep it that way,” said goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge, one of three senior team captains. “We’re just going to go out and play our game, and we’re confident in our game.”
Rennie, however, said Emory & Henry may pose more of a problem than his team is anticipating. Emory & Henry’s slow-down style of play may give Duke fits, as it did to Division I Appalachian State in a 0-0 exhibition tie.
“What you do as the underdog is try to keep the other team from scoring,” Rennie said. “I would expect that they would have a plan to come out and do something tactically to... make it hard to score. I don’t think they’ll come down here just to play.... We’re going to have to figure out what their plan is and how we’re going to attack it.”
However the Blue Devils decide to attack the Emory & Henry defense, they will have several new weapons to call upon. Thursday’s game marks the debut of a freshmen class that many rank among the nation’s best. Rennie said that many of his freshman have had productive preseasons and should be ready to contribute right away.
For their part, the freshmen are nervous but excited about the opportunity to compete on the collegiate level.
“I think I’m going to be nervous, but once the game starts I’ll be fine,” Parade and McDonald’s All-American Michael Videira said. “We [freshmen] have a bunch of teammates around us to help us out.”
As the team embarks on a new season, Rennie and his players have no doubt that they are ready to perform.
“I think we’re ready to play our opening game,” Rennie said. “We’re not as good as we’re going to be, but we’ve improved a lot in the preseason... and hopefully we’ll continue to do that.”
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