For as good as he is at stopping shots, Scott Maslin has a bad sense of timing. The senior goalkeeper on the men's soccer team arrived at Duke three years ago only to find himself buried on the depth chart behind star Atli Knutsson and then-sophomore Jeff Haywood. The abundance of goalies led to Maslin being redshirted. After the graduation of Knutsson, it was Haywood who took over the starting role and flourished, with All-ACC caliber seasons in both 1999 and 2000.
Meanwhile, as the team enjoyed tremendous success on the field, qualifying for three straight NCAA tournaments, Maslin could do little more than cheer from the sidelines.
However, Maslin wasn't just sitting around and moping; instead he was busy learning from Haywood, knowing that eventually his own time would come.
"I don't think I was ready to start yet [two years ago]," Maslin said. "I did a lot of growing up from sophomore year to this year. I learned a lot of composure, and... how to play like a professional."
Haywood was instrumental in that process.
"Just watching how [Haywood] played, how he handled situations, how he got through the season, how he composed himself after he lost a gameÉ the kind of things you don't notice as a fan [were vital]," he said. Such attributes "influence how you play and deal with the season, and I learned a lot from [Haywood] about that."
Having learned the tricks of the trade, Maslin was ready to start, and following the graduation of Haywood, he finally got the opportunity this year. He has been making the most of that opportunity, proving all year long to the ACC that the wait was well worth it.
Maslin has allowed only 10 goals all season, and there has been only one game in which the opposition has scored more than a single goal in regulation, all of which adds up to a miniscule 0.83 goals-against-average.
"He's probably played better than [Haywood] did last year," Duke coach John Rennie said. "He's stepped in and done a tremendous job."
The problem is, Maslin again had bad timing. After biding his time for several years on winning teams, Maslin is now the starter on a team in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in his career at Duke.
"I've been spoiled because we've won the majority of the time that I've been here," Maslin said. "But now it's the time where we have to act the same way... work hard and play hard and continue to act professionally. It's the hardest to be motivated when you're losing, but it's most important to be motivated when you're losing."
Rennie, who has watched Maslin progress for the past three years, has sympathy for his goalkeeper.
"It's disappointing for all the seniors," Rennie said. "Maybe Scott more so because this is his first season as a starter."
Despite the team's struggles on the field, Maslin refuses to be downtrodden. Aside from his sparkling play in goal, he has quickly developed into one of the team's leaders, and has been working hard to pass on his hard-earned lessons to his successors in goal, freshmen Justin Trowbridge and Mark Valdez and sophomore Michael Weiner.
"He's definitely helped me to cope with the collegiate level of play," said Trowbridge, the heir-apparent to Maslin. "He's a leader on the field, and that helps the young guys, especially me and Mark."
As appreciative as Trowbridge is of Maslin's mentoring, he may actually have another year to put up with it as a backup, because by redshirting his freshman year, the senior Maslin still has another year of eligibility left. Is he going to use it?
"I discussed this a lot with coach Rennie last year," Maslin said. "I'm going to sit down with coach after this year and talk to him about what his goals are for me, and what my goals and expectations are.... But we'll wait until after the season [to make that decision]."
His teammates said they would love to have him back. "Scott's just a great guy, on and off the field," Trowbridge said.
So will he be back next year as Duke tries to reclaim its post atop the ACC? Maybe that wouldn't be such bad timing.
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