Six games into the season, Duke has already lost as many games as they did through the entire regular season last year.
Heading into ACC play against No. 16 Maryland (3-2-1, 0-1 in the ACC) this Saturday at 8 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium, the No. 12 Blue Devils (4-2-0) could be worried about their ability to take on top teams.
But that simply is not the case.
"We've hit a rough patch in terms of results," junior Mike Grella said. "If you look at the soccer we're playing, it was pretty good actually.... Our preparation has been great from the preseason, from the start, and I think that rough patch is not so rough if you really look at it in terms of how we played."
In some respects, Grella is right. In Duke's losses against unranked Villanova and then No. 9 West Virginia, the Blue Devils outshot their opponents by a combined 27 attempts. And on defense, senior Justin Papadakis still has managed to maintain a .41 goals-against-average, which statistically places him among the top ten Division-I goalies.
Even with senior starters Spencer Wadsworth, Zach Pope and Tim Jepson missing time this season with injuries, head coach John Rennie said that he has been pleased with every aspect of his team's play-except the end result.
"This game can be very cruel," Rennie said. "The Villanova game is a classic example of that. And the West Virginia game is more a case of us not finishing really good chances. They're not half chances-they're really good chances. And you need to do that if you're going to win those kinds of games."
Maryland, by the same token, has hit its own skid over its past few games. The Terrapins lost their last game 1-0 against a sub-par Old Dominion squad at College Park Wednesday. And in one week, they fell nine paces in the poll from No. 7 to No. 16.
Conference play, however, makes all that history null and void in the eyes of the Blue Devils.
"As soon as you get on the field, everything else is different-the atmosphere, the speed of play, and team is actually try to play," Grella said. "ACC style is fast paced. It's a good level. It's a bunch of teams with a lot of pride, with high level of soccer programs, so [Maryland is] going to come out and try to win the game, not sneak or steal a win."
Like Duke, Maryland has taken far more shots on net than their opponents this season. With both teams struggling to capitalize offensively, the team who finishes just once might take the game this weekend.
"It's not that we're not getting chances-we're getting a lot-but against a team as good as Maryland you're not going to get many," Rennie said. "Hopefully, they won't get many chances, so it's going to be who really takes advantage of their opportunities who really holds the day."
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