. . ‘ 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.
