The Blue Devils are set to play in front of a frenzied crowd tonight at No. 8 Maryland—and they even thought of using the music of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne to simulate the crowd noise.
“I was thinking about bringing a stereo system out, [with] loud music like Ozzy Osbourne to get them used to the surroundings,” head coach John Kerr said.
After a disappointing tie against Elon Wednesday, No. 9 Duke heads into one of its toughest matchups of the year tonight at 8 p.m. in College Park, Md.
The Blue Devils (4-1-3, 1-1-1 in the ACC) and the Terrapins (4-2-1, 1-1-1) enter the match with exactly even conference records and are jockeying for position in this year’s highly competitive ACC, where any win or loss is crucial.
“It’s an ACC game, and ACC wins are hard to come by, and especially away at Maryland,” Kerr said. “We understand the task at hand is going to be very difficult, but we’re optimistic and excited to go into that environment.”
Duke faces a formidable opponent in Maryland that has only lost one of its last six, with that sole loss being on the road against No. 2 North Carolina. In addition, the usually fervent Terrapin crowd will be extra robust—during the game the school will celebrate the university’s 1000th soccer match, with extra fans and alumni expected to be in attendance.
Aside from handling the surroundings, the Blue Devils know they need to improve from the Elon tie to come out victorious against Maryland. One area of improvement involves countering opponents’ focus on sophomore forward Ryan Finley, who has scored eight of Duke’s 13 goals this season. The extra attention he has faced perhaps accounts for his current two-game goal drought.
“We have some other really good players on the team,” Finley said. “If I can try and get them the ball, I think there should be some open guys with all their guys trying to commit on me.”
One of those players is senior midfielder Cole Grossman, who scored Duke’s lone goal against Elon and understands the challenges the Terrapins will present.
“It’s going to be a different kind of pressure than we’ve seen all season, and for the young guys than they’ve seen in their careers,” Grossman said.
Under this pressure, the Blue Devils will certainly have to improve on executing their opportunities. While they outshot Elon 22-to-eight, and were able to control much of the possession, they had difficulty putting the final ball away.
“I think we’re attacking with good numbers and we’re getting guys in the box and now it’s time to execute and finish off that last pass,” Kerr said.
Much of the challenge for Duke, however, will be the mental aspect, which will be exacerbated by the rowdy Maryland crowd. The seasoned Grossman is looking forward to it, though, with a veteran attitude.
“I’ve played there before so I think I’m ready for it,” Grossman said. “[I’m] just going to try and cherish it because it’s my last opportunity to play in one of the coolest venues in college sports.”
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