CARSON, Calif. -- To cap off a stellar season, the men"s soccer team traveled to California for the College Cup for the first time in nine years. After a mediocre 2003 year in which the Blue Devils finished 8-10-1, the team welcomed a talented freshman class that gave the Blue Devils what they needed to regain their prominence at a national level.
Beginning the season with a 12-game winning streak, Duke climbed the national polls and defeated ACC powers Wake Forest, Maryland and North Carolina.
Their Cinderella story, however, came to a screeching halt Dec. 10 when the Blue Devils--the only unseeded team to reach the Final Four--fell here to ninth-seeded California-Santa Barbara, 5-0, in the semifinal game of the NCAA Tournament. UCSB went on to lose the title game to Indiana.
After allowing only one goal in its previous four games, Duke (18-6) allowed the Gauchos (21-2-1) to score in the first minute, something head coach John Rennie had hoped to avoid.
'We talked this whole week about the start of the game,' Rennie said. 'We wanted to come out strong physically to match their well-known intensity at the beginning of a match and not commit any silly fouls and give them any easy chances.'
But Duke did just that, committing a foul 20 seconds into the game. Blake Camp headed free kick out of bounds, giving UCSB a corner kick from the right side. Gaucho Defender Tony Lochhead sent the ball across the box, where Drew McAthy, who drifted to the far post, headed it in 62 seconds into the game.
Despite being down after the early Gaucho goal, the Blue Devils managed to play well for much of the first half, outshooting UCSB 8-4. Duke answered the goal with five shots in the next 25 minutes, but three were stopped by Gaucho keeper Dan Kennedy, and the Blue Devils could not find the back of the net.
UCSB, while only getting off four shots in the first half, managed to put three on goal, the last of which pushed the Gauchos" lead to 2-0 in the 34th minute. Defender Lochhead charged up the field, received a pass and crossed the ball into the box, and UCSB attacker Jonathan Davis knocked in the team"s second goal.
After that, Rennie replaced the 5-foot-8 forwards Danny Kramer and Spencer Wadsworth with Matt White and Paul Dudley, two players more than 6-feet tall.
'We had trouble winning the first balls,' Kramer said. 'They"re a big, physical team, and we knew that. We tried to match that as best as we could.'
Size was not the Gauchos" only advantage, both coaches said. Rennie and UCSB head coach Tim Vom Steeg agreed that the inexperience of the Blue Devils, who start five freshmen, contributed to the inconsistency.
'I don"t think they have probably come back in the games they"ve lost,' said Vom Steeg, citing Duke"s 17-1 record when scoring first. 'That is a young team, and they will be very good for many years to come. But against [Duke], because they were young, scoring that first goal was really good.'
Hoping to emulate the Gauchos" successful start in the second half, the Blue Devils saw their closest chance less than a minute after the break. Camp was granted a free kick right outside the 18-yard line, but Kennedy blocked his shot. Dudley gathered the rebound and crossed the ball in front of the net, but nobody was able to put it away.
The Blue Devils took numerous free kicks throughout the game, a result of 26 UCSB fouls, but a strong Gaucho defense anchored by Lochhead and Kennedy kept Duke scoreless. UCSB, on the other hand, took advantage of the Blue Devils" fouls, scoring its third goal off a free kick outside the 18-yard line. Lochhead took the shot and buried it into the bottom-right of the goal.
With what was essentially a home field advantage, the Gauchos felt the presence of the crowd of 10,647. With a cheering section behind the goal, the fans even took their figurative shots at Duke goalkeeper Justin Trowbridge.
'Every time you make a good play, you"ve got the whole crowd behind you,' Kennedy said. 'Tonight, the crowd was right behind us, supporting us. It really worked to our advantage.'
After two more goals scored in the 65th and 68th minutes by McAthy and Matt Bly, respectively, the Blue Devils realized their run was coming to an end. McAthy"s second goal was a textbook header off a cross from Bryan Byrne. Bly"s shot hit the top left shelf off a pass from Ivan Becerra.
'They did almost everything right on their scoring opportunities,' Rennie said of a team that put 9-of-10 shots on net. 'I think that comes from experience and being a strong team, as well.'
Although the Blue Devils" youth may have worked against them in the semifinal game against the Gauchos, it will only work to their advantage from here. With three All-Americans returning next season (Camp, Wadsworth and Michael Videira), Duke looks to its bright future.
'We had a great season,' Rennie said. 'And if we continue to get stronger, we could certainly have another great season.'
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