Coming off a tough loss to No. 2 Maryland, the Blue Devils are gearing up for their second matchup in one week against a top-three opponent.
Duke (7-2-1, 2-1-1 in the ACC), which dropped to 15th after last Friday's 1-0 defeat, hosts No. 3 Virginia (10-1-0, 3-1-0) tonight at 7 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium. The team spent the past week preparing for the Cavaliers, including an intense scrimmage during Wednesday's practice.
"Anytime you play Virginia, it's going to be a crucial game," senior defender Kyle Helton said. "The intensity is going to be there. It's a battle every time we play."
A Blue Devil victory tonight would provide a critical boost to the team, with ACC soccer experiencing a remarkably competitive year. In addition to Maryland and the Cavaliers, No. 4 Clemson, No. 6 North Carolina and No. 11 Wake Forest could all compete for the national title.
"Everything is so tight in the ACC right now, one loss and you're pretty much on the lower end of the standings," junior midfielder Michael Videira said. "We're focusing on getting our intensity, getting our game up."
Trying to avoid another ACC loss tonight, the Blue Devils have poured everything they've got into preparing for Virginia, even with matchups against other league powers slated for later this month.
"We're not even thinking about Clemson or UNC yet," Helton said.
Focusing this week on taking down the Cavaliers, Duke first must deal with the focal point of Virginia's offense, All-American forward Yannick Reyering, a sophomore originally from Mettingen, Germany.
"We call him 'The German Pro,'" head coach John Rennie said. "He's their leading scorer, and he's just a big, strong guy. They do a lot of things off of him."
All-ACC second team junior midfielder Nico Colaluca, and freshman midfielder Jonathan Villanueva, who Rennie called "two of the league's best dribblers," will be feeding the ball to Reyering.
Even with all the talent on the opposing team, the Blue Devils are focused on improving themselves in order to pull off the upset against the Cavaliers.
"We're concentrating on us as a team," Rennie said. "We're going do our thing."
If the Blue Devils wins tonight, Rennie will earn his 389th victory at Duke, surpassing former Clemson head coach I.M. Ibrahim for the most career wins while coaching at an ACC school.
"We wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for his experience and his leadership," Helton said. "It's the last year for me, but he's got a lot of good years in front of him."
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