The Blue Devils are led by former Player of the Year and leading Herman Trophy candidate John Kerr, who has registered 13 goals and 13 assists.

Other top scorers for Duke include Tommy Stone (15, four), Carl Williams (eight, four) and Jason Weightar (six, eight).

Overall, the Devils are averaging 2.04 goals per game to Harvard's 2.20--another statistic that is too close to make any real difference.

But there are two major differences between the Harvard and Duke booters that numbers do not show--experience and midfield play.

Duke has owns an advantage in the experience department. Apart from having 11 seniors on their squad, six of whom play regularly, the Blue Devils have played in the NCAA tournament in five of the previous six years.

In 1982, Duke reached the finals, where it lost to Indiana 2-1 in eight overtimes.

Harvard, on the other hand, fields only three seniors and has reached post-season play only once (1984) in the same six years--and was shut out by UCLA in the second round.

But what the Crimson lacks in experience, it makes up for in its midfield and defensive play.

Led by Captain Paul Nicholas, the Crimson midfield played a big role in swinging the momentum from Hartwick to Harvard in the second half of last week's game.

"Once we stopped committing unforced errors, Nicholas started using his influence much more. He created the psychological turning point of the game," Shattuck said.

This week's game will match Harvard with a weaker defense. "They [Duke] have unbalanced attacking strength: three very strong offensive players, but as you get closer to the goal they get worse," Shattuck said.

Against B.U., which has a team similar to Duke's Harvard took several chances with more passes up the middle. This strategy worked because the few passes that got through the defense were almost sure goals at the feet of Catliff and Mills.

This same strategy should work against the Devils because, according to Shattuck, "the sweeper plays deep, he leaves space in the midfield, which will allow Nicholas to generate offense--it will be difficult for them to shut us down."

A New Beginning

Despite defeating Hartwick, 5-0, earlier in the season, Duke Coach John Rennie said he was happy Harvard got past Hartwick last weekend, because he would rather play the Crimson--a team the Devils have never met on the pitch.

"We much prefer to play Harvard than Hartwick," Rennie said. "We had an unrealistic game against Hartwick, and from a coaching standpoint I don't want my players to have to deal with the psychology of that [facing a team they had defeated 5-0]."

Rennie got his wish, so now the Devils get the Crimson, with the winner earning a trip to the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Wash., to play the winner of tomorrow's other semifinal match-up (between Akron and Fresno St.).

Apparently, Shattuck never thought beyond the national semifinals, for he didn't schedule a match against a team that plays in a domed stadium.