Even after two impressive wins to open Duke's season, head coach John Rennie knows his team still has plenty of room to improve.
Although the 14th-ranked Blue Devils (2-0) put on an offensive show in victories over Hartford and St. Francis last weekend, Rennie still has concerns about the inconsistency of his defense as Duke takes on American and No. 18 South Florida this weekend in the Duke/Adidas Classic.
"One thing we weren't really happy about was we committed too many fouls," Rennie said. "We got too overanxious and didn't have enough patience."
Duke committed 29 fouls in the two wins, including 11 in the second half against St. Francis.
"We gave the other teams too many opportunities to go at us when they hadn't really earned it," Rennie said. "The game was kind of too easy--we were ahead by a lot of goals and got mentally inconsistent. It's really concentrating on [defense] and learning from your mistakes."
On the plus side, offense has not been a need for Duke. A balanced attack that showcased great timing and relentless energy led to nine goals in the first two games. The Blue Devils were able to capitalize on their scoring chances, unlike in their 1-1 tie with Connecticut in the preseason.
"We're very happy with our offensive production," Rennie said. "We worked really hard on it, and it paid off."
No matter how much the offense produces, Rennie understands that lapses on defense could prove costly in this weekend's matchups at Koskinen Stadium.
American (2-0) runs a conservative offense that will test the Blue Devils' defensive patience Friday night.
"They play really good soccer," Rennie said. "It will be a battle of who has the ball more. If they control the tempo, you end up chasing them."
Sunday night's showdown with South Florida (1-1) could be the Blue Devils' biggest test of the non-conference schedule.
The Bulls finished a surprising 9-2 in their first season in the Big East last year, reaching the conference title game before falling to Connecticut. South Florida, however, dropped this year's home openerto Fordham
"They have a very talented team with a lot of international players," Rennie said. "They're very strong from last year and have an even better group of players this year."
Duke will also use this weekend to settle its starting lineup for Sept. 8's conference opener at Wake Forest.
"We're still putting the team together," Rennie said. "The effort is tremendous, and the desire to defend is very strong because the players recognize it's a need."
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