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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1996)
. . ‘ T Scott Bruhn/DN LAUREN CYRAN, a junior Duke defender, hugs a teammate Sunday after Nebraska beat the Blue Devils 3-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tbumament. Unbeaten Huskers will travel to Portland for the third round. By Vince D^Adamo Staff Reporter Heading into Sunday’s rematch with Duke, the goal among the mem bers of the Nebraska soccer team was to prove that their 3-1 Sept. 8 win over the then-fifth-ranked Blue Devils was no accident. In front of 1,038 fans at the Abbott Sports Complex on Sunday, the Comhuskers (23-0) sent the Blue Dev ils (10-10-3) back to Durham, N.C., with a 3-0 shutout in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Huskers advanced to take on third-ranked Portland Sunday at 1 p.m. in Portland, Ore. The Pilots (18-0-2) beat Vanderbilt 3-1 Saturday. NU and Duke battled 20-degree temperatures and brisk north wind Sunday. In the first half, the Huskers played with the wind at their backs. “It was important because you never know if the wind is going to stick around,” NU Coach John Walker said. ‘We talked all week and told ourselves we can’t let die weather be a factor.” With 6 minutes, 37 seconds elapsed in the first half, a Becky Hogan goal put the Huskers in front 1-0. Freshman striker Lindsay Eddleman said it was important to get ahead early. “After our first goal,” Eddleman said, “our intensity really went up.” At the 12:55 mark in the first half, an apparent goal by Jenny Benson fol lowing an Erica De Vitis shot was waved off because of an offsides call on Benson. The Huskers clung to their slender 1-0 lead at the intermission. With just over 6V2 minutes gone by in the sec ond half, Benson’s goal off a free kick — which was deflected by Duke de fender Kim Daws — widened the Husker lead to 2-0. Walker said the 2-0 lead gave his squad a psychological edge. “I think the first and last few min utes (of the half) are really crucial,” Walker said. “Psychologically, we go from protecting a 1-0 lead to being in front 2-0.” With 5:39 remaining, Eddleman’s goal, on an assist from Sandy Smith, iced Nebraska’s 3-0 whitewash. In last Sunday’s 3-2 sudden-death win over Minnesota, the Huskers un characteristically yielded two first-half goals. All-Big 12 Conference goalkeeper Becky Hombacher said Nebraska’s . defensive play against Duke came as no surprise. “What happened last week,” Hombacher said, “I tried not to let that get .to me. But the shutout gives me a lot of confidence.” De Vitis said it’s hard for other teams not to take notice of the unbeaten Huskers. “After beating Duke,” De Vitis said, “people are going to notice. I think we’re as good as any team.” Walker said the early-season win over Duke gave his team the confi dence that it has carried all season. “This team is much more mature in big games,” Walker said. “But their approach is not any different. Not once have we talked about our record.” 1 * i i . - - , - runners * prepared Dirksen expects Nebraska’s men to be near the top. By Gregg Madsen Staff Reporter When the Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams compete today in the NCAA Championships in Tucson, Ariz., they familiar ground. T h *e Cofnhuskers ran on the Dell Urich Municipal Golf Course at the Oct. 19 Pre-NCAA In vite, when the Ne braska men fin ished sixth out of 32 teams, and the women were 11th Kiptarus out of 30. “I think that is going to be very helpful for us because that course is very deceiving,” Nebraska Coach Jay Dirksen said. “It definitely helps that we’ve seen it.” The 10,000-meter men’s ra£je will begin at noon and die women’s 8,000 meter race will start at 11 a.m. On the men’s side, Dirksen said juniors Jonah Kiptarus and Cleophas Boor both should be at the front of the pack for the eighth-ranked Huskers. “When you look at the quality of runners that they are,” Dirksen said, “I don’t think that’s an impossibility for either of them to be in the top three.” Kiptarus became NU’s first-ever district champion on Nov. 16 at Dis trict 5 Meet in Peoria, 111. “I’d say that over the years, we’ve never had two athletes at Nebraska that are near, this caliber,” Difksefi said. “They’re really approaching uncharted waters for us.” Kiptarus and Boor have finished 1 2 in every race they have entered this year. “Sometimes you can’t tell how you’re going to perform,” Kiptarus said, “but I know that I’m in good' shape, and I’m ready to see what I can Please see TUCSON on 8 NU falls two points short in upset bid Lue misfires on would-be winner after forcing overtime with a 3-pointer. By Mike Finger The Daily Than AUSTIN, Texas — Nebraska’s Tyronn Lue had already hit one dramatic shot Saturday af ternoon against Texas. So when Lue attempted a second buzzer beater with the Comhusker basketball team trail ing by two points in overtime, the Erwin Cen ter crowd of 12,821 held its collective breath. Unfortunately for NU, Texas’ Reggie Free man didn’t hold his. A valiant Nebraska comeback was foiled by Freeman’s last-second deflection of Lue’s 3 point attempt, and the 17th-ranked Longhorns avoided^ major upset by holding on for a sea son-opening 83-81 overtime victory. Despite the loss — which snapped the nation’s longest winning streak at five games — NU Coach Danny Nee was encouraged by his young team’s performance. “I’m proud of our players and the way we came back,” Nee said. ‘Texas is a quality bas ketball team, and they just keep coming at you with so many different looks and different people.” The Huskers (0-1) rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to trail by only three with 15 seconds remaining Nebraska got the ball on a Texas turnover and after Alvin Mitchell missed a 3-pointer, Lue rebounded the ball and nailed an acrobatic fade away from the comer to tie die game at 73, forc ing overtime. “I had a feeling it was going in,” said Lue, who finished with a team-high 18 points. “I knew I was going to hit the shot.” NU’s momentum carried into the extra pe riod when a jumper by Mitchell — who was playing in his first game for Nebraska — with 1:30 left gave the Huskers an 81-79 lead, NU’s first advantage since leading 6-4 in the first half. Texas center Dennis Jordan scored the next four points, putting UT in front 83-81 with 3.3 seconds left. That set the stage for Lue to attempt another clutch shot. The 6-foot sophomore point guard brought the ball upcourt and fired a 30-foot shot, missing as time expired. “It had good height on it after I tipped it, so I spun and looked,” said Freeman, who led all players with 21 points despite hitting just 4 of 20 shots. “If I hadn’t touched it, it probably would have gone in.” The Huskers were able to keep the game close with an impressive showing frpm their fibntcourt in the paint, scoring 14 points, grabbing 13 re bounds and blocking a career-best seven shots. Venson Hamilton had his first career double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Forward Larry Florence had 10 points, and Bernard Gamer added 11, both before fouling out. True freshman guard Cookie Belcher, who scored nine points, also fouled out, leaving NU with otlly five scholarship players at the end of the overtime period. The good post play limited Texas to a 33 percent shooting effort for the game. Nebraska shot 41 percent from the field. “When you shoot 33 percent and control the game from start to finish, you’ve got to feel good about what you’re doing on defense,” Texas Coach Tom Penders said.