From 1992-94, the men's soccer team made the NCAA tournament every year. The 1992 postseason run was a successful one, as Duke reached the national semifinals before bowing out to eventual-champion Virginia. The next two NCAA campaigns were not so lengthy, as the Blue Devils exited in the first and second rounds, respectively.
Now, the squad is back in the big show, and is seeking to reproduce the deep postseason run of three years ago. The first test for Duke (12-6-1) comes at home against North Carolina-Greensboro, this Sunday at 1 p.m.
As UNC-G is not among the nation's elite soccer teams, the Blue Devils might be tempted to underrate the Spartans and look towards a potential second-round matchup at fourth-seeded South Carolina. But Duke is making certain to concentrate on each playoff round individually.
"Every team has the tendency to [overlook] a lesser team," head coach John Rennie said. "It's a natural thing to do. It's how you handle it [that matters].
"You have to think that if you want to win a national championship, you have to win five consecutive games. And there's not an easy game in the five. If you're not ready to play, you won't go past game one."
Although Rennie said that he and his charges have not yet seen tapes of UNC-G, he knows that the Spartans' strength lies in their forward line. One of Greensboro's two high scorers is a 6-foot-1, 185-pound sophomore striker, and the other is a husky freshman attacker from Iceland. The size of the Spartan front line concerns Rennie.
"Their two strikers up front are big and strong," he said. "[They can stay in the game if] they play balls in the air and work hard on restarts. Those kind of teams have given us trouble all year. We're not big and strong."
In fact, Duke will be smaller and weaker come Sunday, as junior midfielder Kevin Stein and sophomore fullback Adam Mastrelli are very doubtful for the game. Also, even though freshman striker and second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference performer Josh Henderson has been training with the team after a long layoff, he is still not back to top form after tearing ligaments in his left ankle.
"Henderson is nowhere near 100 percent," Rennie said. "He's not fully recovered. He'll probably play, but we really don't want to start him. Chances are, we'll be missing three starters."
Despite the somewhat depleted roster, Rennie knows that his team will simply have to win with the available players. He feels that Duke's earlier showings against highly-ranked UCLA and Virginia have shown the squad can hang with the best.
"We can draw confidence from the fact that if we play our best game, we can beat anybody," Rennie said. "This time of year, you're not always 100 percent physically. The players that are out there have to be 100 percent ready mentally."
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