Devils atop ACC

Men's soccer team plays UNC today

DURHAM -- Six games in, the ACC season really couldn't be going any better for the Duke men's soccer team.

The No. 2-ranked Blue Devils have a 4-1-1 record in the insanely competitive league.

Defending national champion Maryland and Clemson, which also reached the NCAA Men's College Cup last season, have three losses each. So does North Carolina, the preseason pick to win the ACC.

"You can't ask for more than being 4-1-1 after six games in this league," Duke coach John Rennie said. "It's just not going to happen. We're happy with where we are."

The reasons for Duke's success are simple.

The Blue Devils (11-2-1) lost only two seniors from their 2005 ACC Tournament champion team and added an experienced transfer from Vanderbilt, junior Joe Germanese.

Germanese has given Duke's midfield a huge boost, but he won't play tonight, when the Devils host UNC (10-4-2, 2-3-1) at 7 at Koskinen Stadium. He broke a wrist Sept. 19 and didn't tell anyone about it until last week. He had surgery this week and is expected to play Tuesday against North Florida.

One of the most important changes in the Duke lineup has been the shifting of Chris Loftus from a defensive midfield position to more of an attacking role. Sophomore Pavelid Castaneda has stepped into that defensive midfield role and helps Duke control play.

The Blue Devils are giving up just 0.98 goals per game this season.

"Early on in the year, we put a lot of focus on our defense, where I think last year, the focus was more on the offense and the attacking mentality," Castaneda said. "But this year we came in and we knew we had very good attacking players, so we needed to get that defense up to speed with them."

The Blue Devils gave up a total of four goals in their first three games and beat Wake Forest 4-3 in their first ACC game Sept. 8.

Since that game, the Devils have not given up more than one goal in a game, shutting out two of the ACC's most productive offenses -- Virginia Tech and Boston College.

Duke trailed N.C. State 1-0 Sunday at the Wolfpack's Method Road Soccer Stadium but stormed back to win 4-1.

Tonight Blue Devils-Tar Heels game is expected to draw Duke's biggest home crowd of the season.

The teams' two meetings last season each ended in a 0-0 double-overtime tie.

"It's going to be one of those games that's absolutely thrilling to play in," Loftus said. "It's fun because we know just about every player on their team. We play with them in the summer, so it's more of a fun rivalry as opposed to Virginia, which is more of a bitter rivalry.

"But it's going to be a battle."