The men's soccer team ended its regular season Saturday in similar fashion to last year's squad-with an easy victory over the Elon Fightin' Christians at Duke Soccer Stadium.
The 2-0 victory pushed Duke's record to 16-2 and allowed the Blue Devils to rest a little before next week's ACC Tournament in Winston-Salem.
"This is what we wanted from a game like this," said Duke coach John Rennie. "We wanted to rest some guys and we wanted to get out of the game with no injuries and a win, so we're happy with that."
Saturday also could have been the seniors' final home game. Before the game, Evan Whitfield, Atli Knuttson, Eric Otto and Jay Heaps were all introduced and honored for their Duke careers.
Duke's seniors will only play at home again if the Blue Devils receive an NCAA Tournament bid and are seeded high enough to host an early-round game.
"We feel we'll have more games on this field this season, but it's the last regular-season game and I am sure that it is an emotional day for [the seniors]," Rennie said. "Hopefully we'll play here at least one more time."
Duke started the game on an emotional high and took the field with a lot of energy and hustle. The Blue Devils started out by dominating and controlling the flow of the game.
Early in the first half, Duke had numerous scoring opportunities that it could not quite convert. Crisp passing and excellent team play allowed the Blue Devils to keep the pressure on the Fightin' Christians, but despite the numerous shots on goal the score remained tied.
Then with 18:25 remaining in the first half, Troy Garner broke through the Elon defense and from the far left side found a streaking Ali Curtis for a goal from point-blank range.
It was Curtis' seventh goal of the year and the third consecutive game in which he has scored since returning from injury two weeks ago. Curtis' return and timely goal-scoring have been crucial for the Blue Devils, who had struggled on offense during his absence.
The Blue Devils completed the scoring for the afternoon early in the second half when Peter Gail scored a goal from short range in the 56th minute. Freshman Scott Noble worked the ball down to the right corner and sent a cross towards the Fightin' Christians goal, where Gail knocked it in.
"Noble just hit a rocket shot and the keeper made a nice save, but it deflected out, and I was right there and I just tapped it in," Gail said. "It was just a case of being in the right place at the right time."
The Blue Devils so thoroughly dominated the game that Elon only got off two shots on goal and spent little time on Duke's side of the field.
The deep Blue Devils didn't seem to miss the absence of starters Heaps, Robert Russell and Noah Lewkowitz. Heaps did not play because he had collected five yellow cards this season and was forced to sit out one game, while Rennie simply wanted to rest Lewkowitz and Russell.
With a comfortable lead against a lesser opponent, the last 20 minutes of the game gave Rennie an opportunity to clear his bench. By the end of the game, 21 Duke players had seen action, and Rennie had used three different goalkeepers.
"This was a pretty easy game, and it gave a chance to play a lot of guys that don't normally get to play," Rennie said.
Rennie's strategy also allowed him to shuffle different combinations of regulars in and out of the lineup to help him assess who is ready to play in the ACC Tournament.
"In a tournament like that you need depth," Gail said. "With three games in a period of four days, you need more than 11 guys."
The Blue Devils will enter the tournament as the third seed, and they realize that their performance will directly affect their NCAA Tournament chances.
"There's no question that our goal is to win the [ACC] tournament." Gail said. "We want to go in there and emerge as the dominant team in the ACC."
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