Upcoming Event: Men's Soccer at North Carolina on October 31, 2025 at 8 p.m.
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8 p.m.
Men's Soccer
at North Carolina
No. 7 Duke Faces Clemson Friday Night On Fox Soccer Channel
9/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
DURHAM, N.C. - The No. 7 Blue Devil men's soccer team (6-2-0, 1-0-0) heads south to take on Clemson (3-4-1, 0-2-0) in a Friday night ACC matchup that will be televised on the Fox Soccer Channel. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 8 p.m. at Historic Riggs Field. This will mark the third game in seven days for Duke against the three teams they lost to in the regular season in 2006. The Blue Devils are 2-0 in those first two matches, against Maryland and UNC Wilmington.
The Blue Devils: Duke is coming off an 18-4-1 season in which they won their fifth ACC Championship and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. They return 10 of 11 starters and 15 of 21 letterwinners from that team. The Blue Devils are 6-2 in 2007 and 1-0 in ACC play.
Goalkeeping: Senior Justin Papadakis is the starter in the cage for the third consecutive season. He is off to a great start this year, as he has only allowed four goals in 724:28 of play over eight games and has recorded three shutouts. Papadakis has made 20 saves for a .833 save percentage and a 0.50 goals against average.
Defense: The defense is led by senior defender and two-time captain Tim Jepson, who played all but 100 minutes in Duke's 23 games in 2006. Jepson has been sidelined with a muscle pull for the first eight games of the season and is doubtful against Clemson, but hopes to return next week against Boston College. Juniors Darrius Barnes and Graham Dugoni have led the defense this season with Jepson out. Barnes has played 682 minutes and tallied one assist and Dugoni has logged 696 minutes and scored one goal. Sophomore Josh Bienenfeld has started all eight games as well, recording a team-best 727 minutes and one assist. Freshmen Christian Ibeagha (seven starts and 625 minutes) and Doug Ferner (one start and 168 minutes) have stepped in nicely with Jepson out of the lineup.
Midfield: The starters in the midfield include senior captain and Hermann Trophy candidate Michael Videira (one goal and three assists), senior Tomek Charowski (one goal and two assists), senior Joe Germanese (one goal and a team-best five assists) and junior Pavelid Castaneda (693 minutes and one assist). Videira was sidelined in the Blue Devils' last two matches but is probable for Friday night. Senior Zack Pope, who is recovering from off-season surgery, has also seen significant playing time so far this season with 251 minutes. Freshman Cole Grossman has stepped up in the last two games with Videira out, playing 125 minutes with one start and the game-winning goal in double-overtime versus Maryland.
Forwards: Junior Mike Grella and senior Paul Dudley have been a formidable offensive duo in the first seven games. Grella has five goals and three assists, while Dudley has contributed six goals and an assist of his own. Together they make up 57.9% of Duke's goal-scoring and 38.9% of Duke's point-scoring. Senior Spencer Wadsworth (362 minutes and two starts) and graduate student Joshua Medcalf (two goals and one assist) come off the bench for Duke.
The Opponent: The Tigers ended their 2006 campaign with a record of 13-5-2 and were 3-3-2 in the ACC, good for a fifth-place tie. Clemson advanced to the Round of 16 before falling 3-0 to eventual national runner-up UCLA. The Tigers return five of 11 starters and 19 of 25 letterwinners. They are off to a 3-4-1 start this season overall and a 0-2-0 mark in the ACC.
In goal for Clemson is sophomore Joseph Bendik. Bendik has played every minute in the cage, posting a 0.93 goals against average and an 8.55 save percentage. Leading the backline are senior Havird Usry with eight starts and one assist and redshirt sophomore David Newton, who actually leads the team with two goals and has contributed one assist and made seven seven starts. Midfielders for the Tigers include senior Tate Parrish (one goal and four assists for a team-high six points) and freshmen Eric Cava (two assists) and Tommy Drake (one goal and one assist). Senior David Bell is Clemson's leading striker and has scored one goal and dished out one assist this season.
Series History: Clemson narrowly leads the all-time series, 22-21-3. The Tigers escaped with a 1-0 victory at home over the Blue Devils in their last meeting on Oct. 28, 2006. Clemson has won four of the last six meetings between the two squads.
Last Time Out: Duke's offense posted five goals in a 5-0 shutout win at UNC Wilmington on Tuesday night. Dudley accounted for two of those scores and Papadakis and the Duke defense earned their third shutout of the season.
Clemson earned a 1-1 draw through two overtimes at home with Elon on Tuesday. Newton scored the Tigers only goal and Bendik made three saves in 110 minutes.
Rankings: Duke is ranked No. 7 in the latest installments of the NSCAA/adidas' and Soccer Times' polls. The Blue Devils are No. 8 in College Soccer News' poll and No. 9 in Soccer America's rankings. Clemson is unranked.
Duke Assists Record In Jeopardy: Seniors Videira and Wadsworth are both within striking distance of the all-time career assists record at Duke. Videira stands tied for sixth with former Blue Devil standout Clint Carnell with 34 career assists. Wadsworth is one behind in eighth place with 33. The all-time Duke leader is Tom Kain, who accumulated 45 assists from 1982 through 1985, and claimed national player of the year honors in 1985.
The Rennie File: Coach John Rennie claimed his 400th career victory at Duke in his 29th season opener as a Blue Devil against Delaware. With his 405 victories at Duke and 92 in ACC play, Rennie is the winningest coach in ACC history. He is also in fifth place all-time for Division I coaches with 449 overall wins and third among active coaches in the same category. Rennie has taken Duke to the NCAA Tournament in 19 of his 28 years as head coach, a feat the Blue Devils had accomplished only once before Rennie took over. This will be Rennie's last season as head coach of Duke, a decision he made prior to this season.
A Look Ahead: The Blue Devils return home for a contest with No. 6 Boston College on Fri., Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. Duke then takes on archrival North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Thurs., Oct. 11 at 8:30 p.m.
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