Men's soccer rebuilds with 11 newcomers after losing 4 stars

For four years, nearly every time the Blue Devils took the field, they were there: Jay Heaps in the center of the midfield and Evan Whitfield in the center of the defense. They started each of the 178 games in which they played and earned All-ACC honors all four seasons. They helped lead the men's soccer team to the national championship game as freshmen, then helped lead it back into the NCAA tournament after a two-year absence as seniors.

And now they're gone.

Add that to the departures of goalie Atli Knutsson, who posted 10 1/2 shutouts a year ago, and Eric Otto, a valuable member of last season's stingy defense, and no wonder coach John Rennie said, "We only lost four players numerically, but we're going to be a pretty new team and pretty young."

While the loss of that quartet leaves gaping holes at defense and midfield, the attack will have a familiar look. Junior Ali Curtis and senior captains Troy Garner and Peter Gail, Duke's top three goal-scorers after Heaps in 1998, all come back to give Rennie some peace of mind.

"I'd rather have a returning offense than a returning defense," he said, "because it's harder to learn to score."

Curtis was third on the team with nine goals and 23 points last year despite missing seven games with a knee injury. If the Blue Devils can get a full season out of Curtis, they should have plenty of offensive firepower from a unit that doesn't lack experience working together.

"We've played with each other a lot," Curtis said, "not just Duke soccer games and Duke soccer practices, but we've played in pickup games with each other, we've messed around in the backyard or whatever. We're very comfortable with each other on and off the field."

For the first time since '94, the midfield won't be anchored by Heaps, who capped a storied collegiate career by winning the Missouri Athletic Club's national player of the year award. Robert Russell, who earned second-team All-ACC honors each of the last two seasons playing at back and midfield, is the only junior among Duke's three captains and will face the task of replacing Heaps in the center of the field.

Rennie calls Perea one of the best young midfielders he's had, citing his excellent first touch and vision of the field.

"The question is whether he'll be able to play his game at this level," Rennie said.

Perea and his fellow freshmen form one of the largest incoming classes Rennie has ever had and, the coach said, one of the best. Making this crop of newcomers even stronger is sophomore transfer Demetrio Sanchez, a midfielder who followed new assistant coach John Barrett from DePaul after earning a spot on the Conference USA All-Freshman team.

Freshman Robert Antoniou should also see time on Duke's new-look defense. Although sophomore Kevin Sakuda and juniors Dwayne Harris and Nii-Amar Amamoo have 78 career starts between them, they haven't always been on the field at the same time. Harris suffered a season-ending knee injury in the 11th game last year, while Amamoo was also hobbled late in the season.

In goal, junior Jeff Haywood is penciled in as the starter, but until either he or sophomore Scott Maslin proves himself in game situations, the position is far from set.

A year ago, the third-seeded Blue Devils were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament in spite of Heaps and Whitfield-and their postseason experience. But Curtis believes that Duke, which begins the '99 campaign ranked 16th in the nation, still has plenty left to make another run at a national title.

"I think we're experienced enough that we can go as far as any team in the NCAA right now," Curtis said. "We're good enough players that we can go as far as any team as well. One of the things that just happens in college athletics is the team with the best players doesn't always win. That's what happened to us last year."