Duke men’s soccer kicks off its 2005 regular season campaign 7 p.m. Thursday against Long Island University at Koskinen Stadium. Following a pair of preseason games against two top-20 teams, the Blue Devils will face an unranked LIU squad that won the Northeast Conference last year.
Duke will look to jump start its offense after failing to score a goal in the preseason. In their exhibition match against UNC-Greensboro Aug. 21, the Blue Devils took 25 shots but could not put one into the net.
“We want to end up scoring goals, but we did a good job creating goals,” head coach John Rennie said. “We’re happy with where we are now.”
Rennie expects LIU to play a 4-4-2 scheme Thursday. Since both of Duke’s preseason opponents played a 4-4-2 line-up, the Blue Devils will be well prepared for the matchup.
“It’s something we practice against on a regular basis because a lot of teams play that way,” Rennie said.
Although LIU made a run to the postseason last year, the team graduated a number of players. Returning only one senior and two juniors, the Blackbirds may suffer from their youth and inexperience.
“We just don’t know much about this LIU team,” Rennie said. “They are younger than they were last year. We believe they’ll come out in a standard 4-4-2, and we’ll go from there.”
Duke’s nucleus remains mostly intact, as the team lost only one starter from last season’s College Cup squad. Justin Papadakis will now start as keeper, replacing Justin Trowbridge who graduated in the spring.
“Justin Papadakis has done very well in goal,” Rennie said. “He has got the confidence of his teammates. His first two games were against really good teams and we are pleased with his progress so far.”
Two NCAA tournament heroes will not be in the starting lineup, however. Sophomores Paul Dudley and Tomek Charowski are hobbled with injuries they picked up over the summer. The pair combined for four goals during last year’s run to the College Cup. Junior Kyle Helton also suffered a preseason injury and will not be in the starting defense.
Three freshmen will make their debuts tonight as Darrius Barnes and Graham Dugoni will begin the game at back while Mike Grella will start up front.
“The main concern would be in the defense” Rennie said. “The good news is that whole group played the second half up at Connecticut and played really well against a very good team.”
Although Duke has a challenging schedule ahead of it, the Blue Devils will gain an advantage because of their minimal travel schedule, which features 12 out of 17 games at Koskinen.
“We feel we have great home-field advantage,” said Rennie. “We expect a good turn out and good support from the home crowd.”
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