This time last year, Coastal Carolina (14-7-1) hosted and beat Davidson in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Chan-ticleers went on to upset then-fourth-seeded North Carolina before falling to Santa Clara 3-2 in overtime. The Duke men’s soccer team (14-5) was sitting at home.
This year, however, the Blue Devils’ season is not over—they host Coastal Carolina in the first game of the NCAA Tournament today at 7 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.
“We’re very, very happy we get to play at home,” head coach John Rennie said. “I think we missed a seed by just a little bit. But, we get to play a home game in the first round, and we don’t have to play an ACC team right away. More than that, you can’t really ask for.”
Coming off a first-round loss to Virginia in the ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils return to the NCAA Tournament after failing to qualify last year. The Chanticleers, on the other hand, are making their fourth-straight trip to the postseason. A team with both experience and youth, Coastal Carolina won the Big South Conference Tourna-ment last week.
“We know they have a lot of speed, a few older guys and a lot of foreigners on the team,” midfielder Blake Camp said. “We know they’re going to be very technical, and very fast, especially up top.”
Duke’s defense will be tested by a quick and relatively effective Chanticleer offense that scores on about 15 percent of its shots. Leading Coastal Carolina, forward Jordie Hughes and midfielder Mubarike Chisoni have 16 goals each, and forward Boyzzz Khumalo has as many assists. Together, the threesome have contributed 113 of the team’s 157 points.
Even with the strength of the three upperclassmen, Coastal Carolina struggled in the middle of its season. After beginning the year with six straight wins, the Chanticleers lost six of seven midseason matches. Among those games were losses to ACC teams Wake Forest and Virginia Tech. Coastal Carolina also faced North Carolina in a preseason exhibition match, which the Tar Heels won 1-0.
Joseph Ngwenya, who was considered by many to be the best player in the country, graduated from last year’s squad. Although Ngwenya was Coastal Carolina’s standout star, he was supported by Hughes, Chisoni and Khumalo, who have since filled in since his departure.
Despite their offensive strength, the Chanticleers have weaknesses that the Blue Devils will hope to expose. Many of Coastal Carolina’s opponents found success by taking advantage of the Chanticleers’ inability to stop a strong counterattack. In a regular season loss to UNC-Greensboro, Coastal Carolina gave up both of its goals off of steals.
The Blue Devils will use their defensive prowess to minimize Coastal Carolina’s offensive threat. Led by sophomore Danny Miller, the Duke back line and goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge have allowed only 16 goals in 19 games this season and shut out 10 teams.
Freshman Spencer Wadsworth leads the team with 21 points, adding a youthful vitality to the offense. He and fellow freshman Michael Videira, who was named ACC Rookie of the Year, have together contributed 10 goals this season. Although the younger players have helped the Blue Devils tremendously, the experienced players have also supplied many of the team’s clutch goals. Junior Danny Kramer and senior Nigi Adogwa lead the team with three game-winning goals apiece.
“Two games ago, we scored three goals in 30 minutes against Wake Forest,” Rennie said. “It was our best offensive performance of the season, and it was only two games ago. We’re getting better. We’re still growing as a team, and I’m very happy with the way things are going.”
In its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the past 13 years, Duke hopes to cap off its successful season with a trip to the College Cup, but are focused on taking “everything one game at a time,” Camp said.
“I know it’s cliché,” he added. “But that’s really what we’re trying to do right now.”
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