Veering in a new direction: Duke men's soccer freshmen stepping into starting roles from the get-go

Looking at the Blue Devils’ opening day lineup—one missing three of its top four scorers and more than half of last year’s overall goal production—it would have been reasonable to expect Duke to struggle to put balls in the back of the net in its first two regular season games.

For one and a half games, that was the case. Then Suniel Veerakone took over. 

With 19 goals and 13 assists combined from last season gone due to the graduation of midfielder Zach Mathers, the departure of forward Jeremy Ebobisse to Major League Soccer and senior forward Brody Huitema’s current injury, Veerakone has had little time to ease into his college career. The Caledonia, Mich., native is starting right away at the center attacking midfielder spot for the Blue Devils but showed he is more than capable of shouldering the load in the second half of Sunday’s game against UNC-Asheville.

Veerakone unleashed a pair of free-kick goals to help Duke pull away from the Bulldogs and defend its title at the John Rennie Nike Invitational with a 5-1 win Sunday afternoon. Veerakone drew plenty of praise before coming to Durham as the No. 41 player in his class, but his performance on the pitch was dazzling—even for someone who sees him practice every day.

“It’s about time we have someone who can score goals like that. We create a lot of free kicks in the offensive third, and now we have someone who can punish other teams,” Blue Devil head coach John Kerr said. “I’m very happy with him, and I’m excited for his future.”

At just 5-foot-8 and 135 pounds, Veerakone can easily get lost in the middle of the field among a swarm of bigger teammates and opponents. He turned 18 the day before the Blue Devils’ first regular-season game last Friday, but he is able to hold his own against players a few years older and more physically imposing thanks to his field vision and quickness.

Veerakone is already showing the maturity and poise to see the field and direct Duke’s attack—even playing mind games Sunday with the Bulldogs’ goalkeeper, who stood helplessly frozen as Veerakone’s second goal curled past him into the corner of the net.

“I just thought the keeper, I guessed that he’d cheat a little bit, guessing I would go back to that near post, so I put it back post,” Veerakone said. “Maybe he tried shifting his weight and realized it was going the wrong way, so he couldn’t move.”

With fellow rookies Max Moser and CC Uche joining Veerakone in the starting lineup and Colby Agu already racking up four points as a forward off the bench, the Blue Devils have four freshmen playing critical roles right away. The emphasis on young contributors serves as a nice parallel to the 2014 Duke squad, which Huitema led in scoring as a sophomore.

Huitema was the eldest member of that group’s goal scorers, with Ebobisse, Cameron Moseley and Brian White combining for nine goals as freshmen. Moseley, in particular, hit the ground running and notched a pair of two-goal performances in his first four career games, drawing attention on the field similar to Veerakone’s current buzz.

Now juniors, Moseley and White are the experienced veterans offensively and get to come full circle mentoring a new crop of young players. Huitema said that he sees plenty of talent in this group, and that their success two years ago showed him that experience was not a requirement to perform well at the collegiate level.

“There’s definitely quality in the class. As with every year, there’s a couple kids who can provide right away, and they’ll be starting,” Huitema said. “In the attacking mid we have freshmen, but that’s no different than two years ago when I was a sophomore and played a big role, so these guys will be able to do just as well.”

Despite a quartet of skilled underclassmen filling the attacking third, Kerr’s 2014 team could not clear the .500 mark and finished  9-9-1. Moseley cooled off considerably after his scorching start and scored just one more goal in the final 13 games as he encountered more physical ACC teams.

Last season, the Blue Devils relied on a core group of returning starters and bumped their record up to 10-7-2 but fell to Louisville in the first round of the ACC tournament and failed to make the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year. 

To clear the hump and progress deeper in postseason play, Duke will need its freshmen to sustain their early levels of play through the rigors of a full season—something Moseley noted he has seen great indications for throughout the preseason.

“I’d say [the biggest change from last year to this year] is the overall commitment from the younger guys,” Moseley said. “Sometimes earlier, the younger guys—including myself—checked out because they weren’t getting playing time, but this year, that’s not the case.”

Sam Turken and Delaney King contributed reporting.