Last year, then-freshman Mike Grella scored a game-winner that secured the ACC Championship for Duke, leading the Blue Devils to a first-round bye in the NCAA Men's College Cup and a nine-day hiatus prior to hosting Creighton University at home.
This year, a Grella golden-goal brought the ACC hardware back to Durham, giving No. 2 Duke (16-3-1) an NCAA first-round bye and 10 days off before tonight's 7 p.m. matchup against Brown (11-4-3) at Koskinen Stadium.
Duke fell to Creighton, 2-1, in 2005, but as far as this year's Blue Devil squad is concerned, comparisons to last season can stop there.
"I'm sure it's fresh on everybody's minds," Grella said. "But I don't think we're going to let ourselves down this year."
After a 1-0 overtime victory against Wake Forest in the ACC Championship Nov. 5, Duke was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the College Cup. But as last year's disappointing defeat shows, no victory comes easy in mid-November.
"The first game of any tournament is very difficult," head coach John Rennie said.
During the opening round of this year's ACC tournament, heavily-favored Duke found itself locked in a 1-1 tie with N.C. State. Duke prevailed in the match, but made the victory much more difficult than it should have been.
"We should not have been tied," Rennie said. "We gave up a goal due to lack of concentration."
Duke won three one-goal decisions in five days during the tournament, leaving several players with minor injuries. Though a long break can often disrupt the momentum of a hot team, the team said the 10-day period has been nothing but beneficial for the Blue Devils.
"Mentally, we probably wanted to play the game a little earlier than this," Rennie said. "But physically, we needed rest."
For the seniors, the one-and-done College Cup is the final stage for several successful careers. The Blue Devils' roster features six seniors, but the team has been led by its youth-defender Kyle Helton is the only senior who has started more than half of Duke's games this season.
"For a lot of us, we know that any day could be our last," Helton said. "We have nothing to save up for now. We put everything out on the field."
Brown defeated Adelphi (11-7-1), 4-1, in Providence, R.I. during the first round of this year's College Cup Nov. 11. The last time the Blue Devils faced the Bears was in the 2000 NCAA tournament, when Duke fell, 1-0. Helton said the team has not done anything particularly different in preparation for the tournament.
"We've been playing well all season," he said. "We're not going to change anything now."
This season, the two teams have shared two opponents, Harvard and Boston College. Duke emerged victorious over both teams, but Brown split the decisions, losing, 6-2, to Harvard and beating the Eagles, 2-1.
The No. 1 seed gives Duke home-field advantage through the quarterfinal round at Koskinen Stadium. Should the team advance to the semifinal round in St. Louis Dec. 1, it would be its second appearance in three years.
A well-rested, healthy Duke squad can't help but remember what happened last year when they were in a position so similar to the one they're in now. But recent history seems to suggest that if this team prevails tonight, they're in it for the long run.
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