The goal for Robbie Church and the women's soccer team was to get faster and more aggressive. Defensively stout, particularly with All-ACC goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir in net, Church needed his team to become an attacking force, one that could dictate play against the nation's top teams, rather than rely on counterattacking.
Duke's head coach turned to outside help, bringing in an array of talented freshmen, including two attack-minded standouts, Carolyn Riggs and Carmen Bognanno.
Their styles contrast one another to the extreme, but the overall effect is the same. The two underclassmen generate offense and score goals, with each of them tallying one in the Blue Devils' opening weekend of play.
"Just having them, it's not just changed our system, it's changed everything," said Casey McCluskey, the only other Blue Devil to have found the back of the net.
Although both players' styles of play are eye-catching, it is the 5-foot-9 Riggs and her boundless physical talent that most coaches drool over.
"Carolyn is very, very fast, probably the fastest player we have," Church said while rattling off Riggs' attributes. "She's got a knack for scoring goals; she's very dangerous in the final third [of the field]; she also gets great lines behind [opposing] players; she's a smart, thinking player."
So Riggs is the complete package. Well, almost complete.
A tremendous athlete, she is currently focused on improving her on-the-ball skills in order to become a truly whole player, and thereby, a dominant force.
For a role model, Riggs looks to McCluskey, last year's freshman sensation and now an integral component of the Duke team.
"Casey McCluskey has awesome touch," Riggs said. "I may be bigger, but she still has a lot better technical ability. Basically, it's how you use your strengths."
At only 5-2, Bognanno strength is her mental toughness. Anyone who has seen the freshman compete, even in practice, quickly realizes that she seldom lacks intensity.
Unintimidated by older players, Bognanno plays as if she believes every loose ball belongs to her. Rather than simply pursuing a play, she hurls herself across the field.
"I'm a bit of a smaller player," Bognanno said. "I need to make up for my size with grit, so I've got to get on top of every ball."
In fact, her frantic pace of play is deceiving.
"She's like the energy rabbit," Church said. "On our winning goal against Tennessee, 90 percent of people would have let the ball go out of bounds, but she chased it, slide on the line, knocked it down and moved it up. She made a winning play....That just typifies Carmen."
Much like her fellow freshman standout.
Riggs' athletic talents have paid immediate dividends for the Blue Devils. Despite a preseason injury that stunted her progress, she came off the bench against top-15 sides Tennessee and Texas and immediately made her presence felt. She registered an assist against the Volunteers and then scored Duke's lone goal in its 2-1 defeat to the Longhorns.
Despite such impressive production in few minutes, Riggs does not yet feel that she's entitled to a starting role.
"It's been awesome for me to be an impact player, but I've only been able to do well because the team is pushing so hard," she said.
Given their tough opening schedule, the Blue Devils' were forced to start the season in high gear. Not the least bit intimidated, the freshman enjoyed battling the nation's elite.
"I actually think that's better for us," Bognanno said. "It forces us to come together quickly because we have to do well against nationally-ranked teams so that we get respect."
They are indeed the reinforcements Duke needed.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.