They had their backs against the wall for the final month of the season and delivered a near flawless performance. Because of the NCAA's requirement that all tournament teams must have at least a .500 record, however, the Blue Devils faced elimination in each of its regular season contests after a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of Virginia Oct. 23, which had dropped their record to 6-8-1.
With just three games remaining, Duke proceeded to play its most inspired soccer of the year, tying mighty North Carolina and then winning three straight contests, including a 1-0 victory over those same Cavaliers in the first round of the ACC tournament.
They had done all that could be expected of them in order to be NCAA-eligible and had done it against the best teams from the nation's most powerful soccer conference.
In the end, however, the NCAA did not care.
In a shocking selection decision last week the NCAA Tournament committee denied Duke entry into its 64-team field. The Blue Devils played one of the toughest schedules in the country, finishing 4-7-2 against ranked opponents, including the likes of North Carolina and Tennessee on their way to an final overall record of 9-9-2.
Still, the NCAA chose not to admit Duke in favor of teams with higher winning percentages but whose performance against ranked teams did not matchup to the Blue Devils'.
The NCAA's announcement stunned the entire Duke women's soccer program, especially its six seniors who had just been told that their 2-0 defeat to Clemson in the second round of the ACC Tournament was their final collegiate game.
"It was incredibly devastating," senior captain Liz Wagner said. "We had so much momentum, and
While there are many teams that made the NCAAs over the Blue Devils, one local example stands out: Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons finished the regular season with a gaudy 12-6-1 record. They got into the tournament having gone 3-7 in their closing 10 games. Two of those victories were 3-0 and 4-0 maulings of Sacramento State and Colorado College, not exactly national powerhouses.
Duke beat Wake Forest 2-1 in overtime at Wake Forest. The Blue Devils also defeated the ranked opponents which the Demon Deacons lost to, including Virginia and Tennessee.
Regardless, Wake Forest received a bid to the tournament. As such, the criteria which the NCAA uses to evaluate teams necessitates scruitiny. It would appear, however, that the guidelines do not strictly parallel college basketball, where strength of schedule is a key factor in a team's admittance to the postseason.
"We can't afford to play [Florida] next year because our schedules are so tough, and that's not right," head coach Robbie Church said. "You know, I don't apologize for our schedule [this year]. I think we played a great schedule. I think our players are better because of the schedule we play.... Everybody in the country is going to be looking at their schedule now and asking, 'is it too tough? Do I have too many losses in here?'"
Some Duke players have come to alternative conclusions, however, due to the so-called "Duke rule."
Over the summer the selection office created the winning-record mandate, the "Duke rule," specifically because Duke received an invite last year despite its sub-.500 record.
The possibility that the NCAA was making an example of the Blue Devils has then been tossed around by some players.
"The NCAA got hassled a lot last year for letting us in," Wagner said. "I feel like they're sort of making up for last year.... It really makes no sense to any of us why we are no longer playing."
With the decision now a week old, the Duke program has begun evaluating its progress in the 2002 season. Despite the postseason disappointment, there certainly appears much to feel proud about.
"We beat four ranked teamsâ??there's a lot of positives from this season," Church said. "We're thrilled, but one of the disappointing things... is it's going to be eight months before we really get ready to play at a high level against top-notch competition. That is going to be a long eight months in the sense that we'll look forward to next year and some of the potential that we have to do very, very well."
For Church, there is closure to the NCAA's decision. He can look forward to entering the 2003 season with a mentally tougher, and possibly better skilled, Duke team eager to avenge what it feels to be an unfair snubbing.
For others, however, the search for closure continues, particularly for those unable to return to collegiate soccer.
"One of the hardest parts is that we didn't realize when we were playing Clemson, that was [the end], as a group," Wagner said. "The majority of us took getting into the tournament for granted because we've always done that.... it's very disturbing, especially to seniors. This is the closest team I've ever been a part of in college soccer, and that's why it's so heartbreaking."
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