Playing against Duke in Koskinen Stadium is usually a difficult enough task for visiting teams. But what about when the Blue Devils' head coach knows your team better than your own coach?
That was the case Friday for Harvard, which suffered a 3-1 loss in its first game of the year. Of the 16 players who appeared in the game for the Crimson, 14 of them were signed by new Duke head coach John Kerr.
Playing against his former coach was particularly uncomfortable for Harvard co-captain Michael Fucito, who scored his team's lone goal. Fucito was recruited by Kerr in 2003 and began his collegiate career in 2004, but then sat out the 2005 season for unspecified reasons.
Including his recruitment and five years in the program, Fucito played under Kerr's watchful eye for almost six years, a spell of time almost unheard of in college athletics.
After the game, though, Fucito was clearly more concerned with earning new coach Jamie Clark's respect than reminiscing about Kerr.
"Tonight, we wanted to prove something to our new coach and show Kerr what he left behind," Fucito said.
During the game, Clark saw things he liked about his players' performance, but the game was clearly strange for him, as well.
Clark said his team's tactics and formation had remained virtually unchanged from Kerr's squads, and he understood the excitement and nervousness his players were feeling while taking on their former leader.
Fortunately for Harvard, the rest of their opponents this season won't know nearly as much about them as Duke did.
When asked if he was looking forward to playing teams that didn't have such a detailed scouting report on the Crimson, Fucito just gave a disappointed smile.
"Yeah, that would be nice," he said.
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