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Duke soccer enjoys rich history at final four
12/10/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Dec. 10, 2004
by John Roth
Blue Devil Weekly
Three Duke basketball teams and one Duke soccer squad had played in an NCAA championship game and lost prior to 1986, when the Blue Devil soccer program claimed the school's first national team championship. Facing Akron on the artificial surface of the Tacoma Dome in Washington, Duke registered a 1-0 victory to bring the NCAA trophy home to Durham. The school has since won three NCAA crowns in basketball and two in women's golf.
That 1986 title was the second of five trips to the final four (now called the College Cup) for Duke men's soccer, all under the direction of veteran head coach John Rennie, who built the program into a national power in the early 1980s and has brought it back this year after its 27-28-3 record over the previous three seasons.
Rennie's first trip to the promised land of his sport came early in his career, in just his fourth season in Durham, when the Blue Devils put together one of the best seasons by any team in any sport in school history. Duke went 18-0-2 during the regular season, then made two goals stand up in four straight NCAA games played on its home field to reach the national championship contest. A second-round overtime decision over Clemson and a semifinal decision over UConn attracted two of the top three home crowds in school history.
Duke traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for the championship contest and locked horns with perennial power Indiana in an epic contest. It wasn't decided until the Hoosiers broke a 1-1 tie in the eighth overtime.
Duke's 1986 team fell to Catawba in the season-opener and dropped three conference games, but by tournament time the squad was ready for anything. The Devils got to play at home in three of four games, including a semifinal victory over Harvard that drew over 6,000 fans. Then it was off to Tacoma for a second shot at the national title.
This team featuring 11 seniors was determined to take care of Rennie's "unfinished business" and blanked the Zips. Tom Stone scored the only goal early in the second half and was named offensive MVP, while Kelly Weadock was named the defensive MVP after anchoring a back line that registered its 12th shutout of the season.
Duke played in just two NCAA games over the next five seasons, losing both, but bounced back into tournament form in 1992. After losing their regular-season finale to N.C. State and their ACC Tournament opener to Clemson, the Blue Devils blew past James Madison and edged St. Louis 4-3 to reach the quarterfinals. The Devils and SMU battled to a 0-0 tie through overtime, then Duke advanced from its home field on penalty kicks 7-6 to earn a date in the semifinals at Davidson, N.C. The Devils were humbled in the semifinals 3-0 by a Virginia team that would claim the second of four straight NCAA crowns that year.
Duke returned to the College Cup in 1995 after tournament wins over UNC Greensboro, South Carolina and James Madison. The Blue Devils' semifinal date in Richmond was, once again, undefeated Virginia, now in pursuit of its fifth consecutive NCAA trophy. Duke had tied the Cavs in the regular season 3-3 by scoring two goals in the final 90 seconds, and had lost to them in the ACC tourney 4-1. This time, before a crowd of 21,000 in the Wahoos' home state, the confident Devils pulled the upset 3-2 on goals by Jay Heaps, Sam Smith and Craig Jeidy.
That earned Duke a trip to the championship game against Wisconsin, where the Badgers posted their fifth shutout of the tourney to get the win. The 1995 final four team had a few similarities to this year's Duke contingent in that it had just a couple of seniors and was not expected to accomplish major feats while relying on several freshmen. The 2004 club has moved through the field with three shutouts and one overtime win to reach the semifinals in Carson, Calif., this week, where it hopes to challenge for the program's second national title.
Duke soccer at the final four:
1982
Duke record: 22-1-2
Semis at Durham
Duke d. Connecticut 2-1
Final at Fort Lauderdale
Indiana d. Duke 2-1 (8 OT)
1986
Duke record: 18-5-1
Semis at Durham
Duke d. Harvard 3-1
Final at Tacoma
Duke d. Akron 1-0
1992
Duke record: 15-4-3
Semis at Davidson
Virginia d. Duke 3-0
1995
Duke record: 16-7-1
Semis at Richmond
Duke d. Virginia 3-2
Final at Richmond
Wisconsin d. Duke 2-0
Monday, September 01
Tuesday, November 12
Tuesday, November 05
Saturday, October 19
