The Blue Devils have already to lost to UVa twice this season with a lot on the line. But the teams will play for a spot in the College Cup when Duke rolls into Charlottesville Saturday at 7 p.m.
It is one thing nearly every athlete and coach can agree upon: Beating an opponent three times in one season is among the hardest things to do in sports.
The men’s soccer team hopes the cliché holds true as it faces fourth-seeded Virginia Saturday at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va., with a berth in the College Cup on the line. The Cavaliers (18-4-1) have beaten the Blue Devils (17-5) in both of the teams’ previous matches this season.
Duke head coach John Rennie, however, believes that the results of the teams’ other contests will have little bearing on their NCAA Tournament quarterfinal.
“Every game has a tendency to take on a life of its own, and I’m sure this game will be different from the other two,” Rennie said. “The first game we took a 2-0 lead, the second game they took a 2-0 lead, so every game is different even if it’s the same opponents.”
While much could change, some things will remain the same. The Cavaliers will play a rough, tireless brand of soccer, a factor that has weighed heavily in their two prior games against the Blue Devils.
“I think we have to match their intensity,” Duke goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge said. “They’re a very hard-working team, they’re very physical. I think the first game we played at Virginia for the first half we did that, matched them physically. In the second half, we lost our composure and unfortunately lost the game. When we played in the ACCs, we did not have the right level of intensity, and they punished us for it.”
In the teams’ other two matchups, they combined for 82 fouls, nine yellow cards and two ejections. Virginia’s late second-half goals were key each time.
In the teams’ most recent contest, a Nov. 11 ACC Tournament quarterfinal, Virginia dominated throughout the first half but did not score until 27 minutes remained in the game. The Cavaliers scored again less than three minutes later and held on to win, despite Duke’s late charge.
Earlier in the season, the Cavaliers dashed the Blue Devils’ hopes for an ACC regular season championship with a 3-2 overtime victory in Charlottesville. Duke scored two goals in the opening 28 minutes but was forced to play two men down for the last 11 minutes of regulation and all of overtime after the ejections of Chris Loftus and Zachary Pope.
Virginia capitalized on the two-man advantage, scoring three goals in less than 10 minutes to steal the game from the Blue Devils. Hunter Freeman, who also recorded an assist in the game, scored the game-tying goal on a controversial penalty kick and Mike Littlefield scored the game-winner in overtime.
“I think everyone on the team is well aware of the history of the programs and the intense rivalry,” Trowbridge said. “Obviously we’re excited about playing UVa. I think if you ask anyone on the team, we’d rather play them than anyone else right now.”
The Cavaliers are led by Freeman, who paces the team with 27 points, and defender Matt Oliver, both first-team All-ACC selections. Freshman midfielder Nico Colaluca made the second-team.
With six freshmen receiving playing time, Rennie has tried to impress upon his young team the importance of focusing on just one opponent at a time. And after the two tough losses earlier in the season, the Blue Devils could have looked ahead to playing the Cavaliers in the Elite Eight and overlooked their earlier opponents. Duke topped Costal Carolina, 12th-seeded Old Dominion and Ohio State to reach Saturday’s quarterfinal.
“This time of year, the old saying in the NCAA Tournament is ‘Survive and advance,’ that’s all you’re concentrating on,” said Rennie, whose 26 years as Duke’s head coach have included several runs deep into the NCAA Tournament and 1986 National Championship. “If you’re goal is getting to the Final Four, you’re going to lose in the first round. I think they’ve been very good about respecting each opponent and respecting the game.... It’s really all a coach wants his team to do, not even think about the tournament aspect, it’s who are we playing.”
The young Blue Devils have responded to their coach’s one-game-at-a-time doctrine, advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1995.
“It really hasn’t hit me as much as I’m sure it has hit the upperclassmen,” forward Michael Vidiera said. Vidiera, the ACC Freshman of the Year, has registered three assists for the tournament, and his lone goal was the only one Duke would need in Duke’s 3-0 round-of-16 victory over Ohio State. “[The team’s freshmen] have never actually been in a situation like this, and seen other teams make it and not us, as they have in previous years. So I guess it’s almost like, it’s new to us and we don’t know what it’s like without it.”
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