Often times athletes who are not in the limelight end up carrying their teams through a victorious season.
In the case of the men's soccer team, senior defender Sam Smith is one such unsung hero. Smith has been a major presence on the field so far this season, anchoring the Duke defense, which has shut out six of 10 opponents.
During his four years of Duke soccer, Smith's role on the team has grown tremendously. The 1993 and 1994 seasons brought only limited playing time for Smith. Last year, he began to come into his own as a player, starting in 12 games and notching one goal and two assists.
This season, however, Smith has consistently stood out for the Blue Devils. In their first 10 matches, he has started in every game and collected two goals and one assist. While Smith is satisfied with his performance so far, he remains modest, attributing his personal improvement to the depth of the defensive line.
"I'm pretty pleased so far, but Evan Whitfield's having a great season, too, which has made my job a lot easier," Smith said. "It's easier for me to get forward and get points because his speed protects us in the back."
The 1996 season marks the conclusion of a Smith family legacy in Duke soccer. Sam's brother, Steve, also played on defense for the Blue Devils from 1990 to 1993. Both brothers had played soccer since childhood. While Steve was playing soccer for Duke, Sam, still in high school, visited him frequently. Through repeated exposure to life at Duke, Sam developed an appreciation for the school, which eventually led him to become a Blue Devil himself.
"When [Steve] was going here, I came and visited him a few times, and I enjoyed it," Smith said. "Since he came here, it allowed me to visit the school more than once, so I had a really good feel for it before I had to make a decision... I just liked [Duke] more than the others."
The men's soccer team has definitely benefited from Smith's decision to matriculate. His leadership and defensive prowess have contributed to both Duke's appearance in the NCAA Final Four in 1995 and its strong start this year. After a spectacular beginning, however, a squad that once appeared to be invulnerable has faltered of late. In the past two weeks, Duke has lost three of its last four games, and its national ranking has fallen from No. 1 to No. 13.
Smith feels that the Blue Devils have been playing with the same level of effort and intensity in their last four games as they did earlier in the season, and that their lackluster performances against Maryland, North Carolina and Marshall are due to their opponents taking advantage of a few defensive errors.
"We made a few defensive lapses that the other teams capitalized on, and we're not putting away our opportunities," Smith said. "We're still playing well, I think. It's just that the other teams are taking advantage of every opportunity they get, and we're not finishing all our opportunities."
Despite its recent setbacks, though, Duke has not lost sight of its goals for the rest of the season, the most important of which is to get an NCAA tournament bid. In order to achieve these goals, the Blue Devils will have to increase the pressure on their opponents both defensively and offensively by creating turnovers, denying other teams any possible chances to score and following through on their own opportunities. For the present, Duke is concentrating on improving its play one contest at a time.
"The last couple of games have forced us to refocus," Smith said. "Our immediate priority is that right now we just want to get back on a winning streak."
And throughout the remainder of their season, the Blue Devils will look to Sam Smith's leadership to get them back on track and regain the focus they need for a victorious outcome.
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