No. 9 Duke Begins ACC Tournament With No. 10 Virginia Tech

Durham, N.C. - No. 9 Duke will begin play in the ACC tournament on Wednesday when the square off against No. 10 Virginia Tech at Noon. Both teams are coming off setbacks in their regular season finale. The Blue Devils had a three game unbeaten streak come to an end with a 3-1 loss to Clemson on Senior Night at Koskinen Stadium. The Hokies saw a ten game unbeaten streak come to a close with a 2-1 loss in double overtime at home against No. 2 Maryland.

ACC Tournament
The 2005 ACC Tournament will be held in Cary, N.C. at the SAS Soccer Complex. Fifth seeded Duke will take on fourth seeded Virginia Tech in the first game of the day. The second game will feature top seeded Maryland against either Wake Forest or Boston College at 2:30. The third game will be third seeded N.C. State taking on sixth seeded North Carolina at 5:30 and the final game will feature second seeded Virginia against seventh seeded Clemson at 8 p.m. The two semifinal games will be played on Friday at 5:30 and 8 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. An all-tournament package can be purchased for $25 or single day tickets are available for $15. Students and senior citizens receive a discounted rate on their tickets and children two years or younger will get in free.

Series History
Duke has faced Virginia Tech six times and holds a 3-2-1 edge in the series. Earlier this season the two teams played two a 2-2 tie in two overtimes as the Blue Devils rallied from a 2-1 defecit in the second half while playing a man down to force overtime. In the Hokies' first season as a member of the ACC in 2004, they came away with an upset victory in Durham. They ended the Blue Devils 11-game winning streak to start the season with a 1-0 shutout win. It was the first time the two schools had met since 1988 when Duke rolled to a 7-2 win against Virginia Tech at the Wolfpack Classic in Raleigh, N.C. Duke head coach John Rennie also faced the Hokies in his first season in Durham and came away with a 2-1 loss. The Blue Devils took the first two meetings in the series with a 1-0 win in 1974 and a 4-3 decision in 1978.

The Opponent
Virginia Tech has compiled a record of 9-2-1 since facing the Blue Devils on Sept. 20. They followed that game with a 2-1 loss at Wake Forest but then rattled off seven straight victories including a 1-0 win over then No. 4 North Carolina and a 4-0 win over then No. 11 N.C. State. After a 1-1 tie with Clemson they defeated Radford, 4-0, and won at then No. 5 Virginia, 2-1 in overtime. In their regular season finale, they lost in double overtime, 2-1, to No. 2 Maryland, who is now ranked No. 1 by Soccer America. The Hokies are led by their two freshmen from Ghana, Joshua Boateng and Patrick Nyarko. Boateng has five goals and three assists in 12 games while Nyarko has scored eight goals and added six assists in 13 games.

Last Meeting
On Sept. 20, Duke played their second double overtime game in three days and came away with a 2-2 tie. The Blue Devils had a fast start with Blake Camp scoring his first goal of the season just three minutes in to the game off feeds from Mike Grella and Spencer Wadsworth. Virginia Tech weathered the storm and kept it to a one-goal game before tying the score in the 64th minute when Magnus Einarsson converted a penalty kick. The Hokies also caught a break in the 78th minute when the ball deflected off a Duke player in to the net for an own goal to put Va. Tech ahead 2-1. With seven minutes left in regulation, Paul Dudley was issued a red card forcing Duke to play a man down. Despite the disadvantage, the Blue Devils came back to tie the score at 2-2 with just 1:31 left on the clock when Chris Loftus scored his fifth goal of the season on a head off a pass from Michael Videira.

History in the ACC Tournament
Duke holds an all-time record of 13-15-1. They have not won a conference tournament game since 2000 when they edged Maryland, 2-1 in overtime. Last year they suffered a 3-1 setback to Virginia as the Cavaliers went on to win the tournament with a 2-1 win against Maryland in the finals. Virginia leads all ACC schools with a 29-9-5 career record in the conference tournament and nine championships. No other team has won more than two. Duke claimed their first title in 1999, with a 2-1 victory in overtime against Virginia in the finals. They defeated North Carolina, 4-0, in the semifinal round. Blake Camp has been named to the All-Tournament team in each of the past two seasons.

Last Year in the ACC Tournament
Virginia used a big second half to beat Duke in last year's ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers held Duke to four shots in the first half while putting up eight of their own, but could not score as both teams entered halftime scoreless. Virginia struck first in the second period when Mike Littlefield found the back of the net in the 64th minute. Three minutes later, Jeremy Barlow made it 2-0 with his fifth goal of the season. Just three minutes after that, Blake Camp cut the lead in half with a header off a free kick by Kyle Helton, but Ian Holder put the Blue Devils away with a goal in the 78 th minute to give Virginia a 3-1 win.

Last Time Out
Duke hosted Clemson on senior night and came away with a 3-1 loss. The Tigers became just the second team this season to score a goal on the Blue Devils in the first half when Randy Albright capitalized off a Duke turnover. Just 2:48 in to the second half, Dane Richards scored his team-high seventh goal of the year to put Clemson ahead 2-0. Spencer Wadsworth brought Duke back to within a goal in the 58th minute, but Albright found Bryson Moore for a score in the 60th minute to clinch a 3-1 win for the Tigers. Duke held a 12-2 advantage in total shots in the second half, but Clemson scored on both of their shots and the Blue Devils only found the back of the net once.

Duke vs. Ranked Opponents
After the scoreless tie against North Carolina on Oct. 28, Duke is now 3-3-1 against ranked teams this season, including a 2-2-1 record against ranked ACC squads. They went on the road and defeated No. 25 Saint Louis University, 3-1, in their second game of the year. They suffered a 4-1 loss at home against No. 7 St. John's on Sept. 11 but came back the next week to defeat No. 13 Wake Forest, 3-2 in overtime. They went on to lose two straight against ranked teams with a setback on national television to Maryland, 3-1, and a 1-0 loss at Virginia. The Blue Devils bounced back from the Virginia loss with the 6-0 win against N.C. State. Duke will head to Cary, N.C. next week for the ACC Tournament where seven of the nine teams are currently ranked by Soccer America.

Four Receive ACC All-Conference Honors
Blake Camp and Michael Videira were each named to the All-ACC first team on Monday. Camp has seven goals and five assists to go along with three game-winning goals. It is the third straight season Camp has received All-ACC honors. Videira leads the team with eight assists and has three goals. He was a second team selection last year and was the ACC Rookie of the Year. Chris Loftus was named to the All-ACC second team. He leads the squad with nine goals and has three assists to go along with two game-winning goals. He was an All-ACC freshmen choice two years ago. Mike Grella was named to the All-ACC freshmen team this season. He has four goals and seven assists.

Scoring Offense
Duke is ranked 12th nationally in scoring offense with an average of 2.32 goals per game. They have scored at least two goals in 11 of their 16 games. Duke has not won a game when scoring less than two goals. The five times they have failed to score twice were in a 4-1 loss to St. John's, in their 3-1 loss to Maryland, in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Virginia, in a 0-0 tie at North Carolina and in a 3-1 loss to Clemson. They have scored three goals against Saint Louis, the College of Charleston, Wake Forest, Longwood and Boston College. They also tallied five in a win over Temple and a season-high six last Friday against N.C. State. The shutout loss to Virginia and the scoreless tie at North Carolina were the only times this season Duke failed to score a goal in a game.

NCAA Leaders as of 11/7
Spencer Wadsworth is ranked 16th in the country in assists per game, tallying 0.53 per contest. As a team Duke is ranked 12th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 2.31 goals per game.

ACC Leaders as of 11/7
Duke is among the leaders in the ACC in several statistical categories. They are first with 16.69 shots per game, second with 8.31 points per game, second with 2.31 goals per contest and first with 3.69 assists per game. They also have several individuals among the leaders in the conference. Blake Camp is fourth with three shots per game and tied for tenth with 0.44 goals per outing. Michael Videira is ninth in shots per game with 2.75 shots per game and tied for sixth with 0.5 assists per contest. Chris Loftus is eighth with 1.31 points per contest and eighth with 0.56 goals per game. Spencer Wadsworth is tenth with 1.2 points per outing and fourth with 0.53 assists per contest. Mike Grella is eighth with 0.47 assists per game.

National Rankings
Duke dropped in the national rankings this week after losing 3-1 to Clemson. They fell to No. 9 in the Soccer America rankings, 11th in soccertimes.com, 13th in College Soccer News and 21st in the NSCAA/adidas Top-25.

No. 9 Duke Begins ACC Tournament With No. 10 Virginia Tech

Players Mentioned

Blake Camp

Paul Dudley

Mike Grella

Kyle Helton

Chris Loftus

Michael Videira

Spencer Wadsworth

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No. 9 Duke Begins ACC Tournament With No. 10 Virginia Tech

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Players Mentioned

Blake Camp

Paul Dudley

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Chris Loftus

Michael Videira

Spencer Wadsworth

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