Raleigh Native Darrius Barnes Heads to MLS Cup

DURHAM, N.C.—Six years after last donning his Duke Blue Devil jersey in the NCAA Tournament, Darrius Barnes will put on his New England Revolution kit Sunday with hopes of lifting the MLS Cup at the end of the day. Barnes and the Revolution will battle the LA Galaxy in an effort to hoist the cup for the first time in Franchise history. Kickoff is set for Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3 p.m., on ESPN.

Barnes, a Raleigh native and product of the Triangle Futbol Club, was a high school All-America choice before joining the Blue Devils in the fall of 2005. He quickly earned his way into Duke's starting defense his rookie season, getting the nod in 13 of his 19 outings and was voted the team's Rookie of the Year.

He was a mainstay for the Blue Devils backline for the next three seasons, starting 57 of 58 games and helping Duke to 24 shutouts in those three seasons. Overall for his career at Duke, Barnes played in 77 games and tallied a goal and nine assists and helped Duke post 32 shutouts.

Following his career with the Blue Devils, Barnes was drafted 40th overall by the New England Revolution in the third round of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft. He quickly impressed the Revolution coaching staff and landed in the starting lineup his rookie season. He started nearly every game his first three seasons before battling injuries in both 2012 and 2013.

In 2014, Barnes has started 16 games for the Revolution backline and played in 22 games. He tallied his second career goal in 2014 with a diving header against Real Salt Lake. In his six seasons with the Revolution, the athletic defender has played in 120 games with 103 starts and has two goals.

Barnes is not alone in being a former Blue Devil on the Revolution squad. Head coach Jay Heaps is in his third season as the leader of the franchise and has guided the team back to the top of the Eastern Conference. Heaps was inducted into the Duke Hall of Fame in 2014 after a stellar soccer career with the Blue Devils. He also was a three-year member of the Duke basketball team.

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Raleigh Native Darrius Barnes Heads to MLS Cup

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