Completed Event: Men's Soccer at #14 Akron on November 30, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 2
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No. 1 Duke Looks To Rebound Against No. 12 St. Louis
9/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke Blue Devils (2-1) will host the St. Louis Billikens on Sunday night at 7:30 p.m., in Koskinen Stadium. It is the second day of the 26th annual Duke/adidas Classic, and the game will be available live and on-demand on ACCSelect.com. The Duke-St. Louis match will be preceded by a 5 p.m. showdown between N.C. State and Villanova.
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 2-1 in 2007.
Goalkeeping: Senior Justin Papadakis is the starter in the cage for the third consecutive season. He is off to a great start this season, as he has only allowed one goal in 254:28 of play. Papadakis has made seven saves for a .875 save percentage and a 0.35 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. Unfortunately, Jepson is being held out of this weekend's matches with a pulled muscle, as he was in last weekend's two games. His status is week-to-week. Juniors Darrius Barnes and Graham Dugoni will lead the back line with Jepson out. Barnes and Dugoni have each played 218 and 246 minutes, respectively. Sophomore Josh Bienenfeld (261 minutes) and freshman Christian Ibeagha (256 minutes) have started all three of Duke's games. Bienenfeld also recorded an assist in the Blue Devils' win over Delaware.
Midfield: The starters in the midfield include senior captain and Hermann Trophy candidate Michael Videira (one goal and a team-best three assists in 2007), senior Tomek Charowski (one goal), junior Pavelid Castaneda (231 minutes) and senior Joe Germanese (one goal and two assists). Senior Zack Pope (who is recovering from off-season surgery), junior Brad Ramsey and sophomore Ryan McDaniel all have seen significant playing time so far this season.
Forwards: Junior Mike Grella and senior Paul Dudley (coming back from off-season surgery) got the start in the first three matches. Grella had three goals and an assist in those two games, while Dudley contributed a goal and an assist of his own. Senior Spencer Wadsworth (also recovering from a winter surgery) and Vanderbilt transfer and graduate student Joshua Medcalf come off the bench for Duke. Medcalf has already tallied one goal and one assist in his first three games as a Blue Devil.
The Opponent: The Billikens ended their 2006 campaign with a record of 13-5-2 and were 8-0-1 in winning the Atlantic 10 Conference. They return six of 11 starters and eight of 16 letterwinners. The Billikens advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament before falling to Northwestern, 1-0.
St. Louis is off to a 0-0-2 start in the 2007 season. Juniors Kyle Patterson (forward/midfield) and Dado Hamzagic (midfield) lead the Billikens' offensive attack, as both have notched goals this season. Junior forward Brandon Barklage also makes a difference up top, having taken nine shots in two games. On defense is sophomore Rob Viviano, who has contributed an assist already this year. Junior Calum Angus has started both games for the Billikens as a defender.
Series History: Duke is 2-0 all-time against St. Louis. The last meeting between the teams was on Sept. 3, 2005, as the Blue Devils traveled to St. Louis, Mo., and came away with a 3-1 victory over the No. 25 Billikens.
Last Time Out: The No. 1 Blue Devils were upset by Villanova on Friday night, 1-0. Despite out-shooting the Wildcats 25-4, Duke was unable to capitalize on any of their chances. Senior forward Mike Del Guercio tallied the game-winner for Villanova with just over 12 minutes remaining in the first half.
Rankings: Duke is currently ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in all five media polls. Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News both rank the Blue Devils as the top team in the nation, while the NSCAA, Soccer Times and Soccer America tabbed Duke as No. 2 this week. Wake Forest is listed as No. 1 in those three polls. St. Louis; highest ranking comes in the NSCAA/adidas poll at No. 12. The Billikens are also ranked 14th in the Soccer Times and College Soccer News rankings, 20th in Top Drawer Soccer's rankings and 22nd in Soccer America's poll.
Grella Named National Player of the Week: Grella was named Top Drawer Soccer's national player of the week on Monday. The junior from Glen Cove, N.Y., tallied three goals and an assist in Duke's first two games. He was also named to College Soccer News' national team of the week. Grella was named a second team preseason All-America by College Soccer News and was a Soccer America Preseason All-America choice.
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 401 victories at Duke and 91 in ACC play, Rennie is the winningest coach in ACC history. He is also in fifth place all-time for Division I coaches with 445 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: This match is the first of four consecutive 7 p.m. home contests against ranked teams for the Blue Devils. After St. Louis, Duke faces No. 18 West Virginia on Sat., Sept. 15, No. 15 South Carolina on Wed., Sept. 19 and No. 4 Maryland on Sat. Sept. 22 in the ACC opener for the Blue Devils.
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Tuesday, November 12
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