After a disappointing decision from the NCAA women's soccer committee left the Blue Devils sitting at home until next summer, the team reflected this week on its 2002 season.
Perhaps the most positive attribute that the Blue Devils can carry into next season is their youth. Carolyn Riggs, who was second on the team in points and goals, was named to the All-ACC freshman team as a forward. Receiving the same accolade as Riggs was fellow freshman Kate Seibert, who helped senior Rebecca Smith lead Duke to six shutouts. Only North Carolina had more freshmen on the All-ACC team.
"I was really proud of all of our girls this year," head coach Robbie Church said. "Especially our freshmen. They played at another level when we needed them to."
Carmen Bognanno, who suffered a knee injury and missed four games in the middle of the season, provided key minutes off the bench as a freshman. She finished the season with two goals and two assists at the midfield position.
The Blue Devils' starting center midfielder, Casey McCluskey, continued her stellar play from the 2001 season. Aside from netting 10 goals to lead her team in the category, she orchestrated Duke's offense, which outscored their opponents by 12 goals on the year. McCluskey, a sophomore, scored four ddd golden goals this season, including one in the season-opener against Tennessee. For her efforts she was named to the All-ACC first team along with goalkeeper Thora Helgadottir.
One of the other starting midfielders, Liz Wagner, contributed to the Blue Devil offense immensely. Starting all 20 games, she was a key presence on the field and was voted onto the All-ACC second team. Duke will miss Wagner next year as both a leader and excellent player.
"We had some great players this year," Church said. "Some of them will be back next season and some won't. I feel bad for our seniors more than anything."
The Blue Devil's superb play in net was a main reason they were able to make a late-season surge toward the NCAA tournament. After a stint with the Iceland national team, Helgadottir was only able to participate in 11 matches for Duke. Despite her limited time, she faced 114 shots on the year and only allowed 14 goals.
Her best moment of the season came at North Carolina when she made nine saves, two of which were spectacular plays that almost gave the Blue Devils an opportunity to steal a win. Duke came away with a tie, which sent the Blue Devils on a three-game win streak before Clemson ended their hopes of an ACC championship.
"We accomplished a lot this year," Church said. "Anytime you can go to Chapel Hill and get a tie against Carolina it's a big game."
Before the season started, Church knew his schedule was full of national powerhouses this season. He hoped the team would use those games as motivation to improve as a unit during the course of the season.
Overall, Duke meshed as a team and improved by the end of the season, but their early losses proved to be fatal come tournament time.
The Blue Devils opened the season with a killer stretch of three consecutive matches against ranked teams. Duke managed to beat Tennessee in overtime before losing to Texas 2-1 and Washington in double overtime. A week later at Florida's own tournament Duke was able to squeak out a victory in overtime for a crucial win against a higher-ranked team.
"I think we had a lot of special moments this year," Church said. "To open up a season with a win over Tennessee in overtime was a great highlight. We also went down to Florida and picked up a big win."
The rigorous ACC regular season put a dent in Duke's record and sent them into a downward spiral with a four-game losing streak in the middle of the year. After a slow recovery, the Blue Devils needed a win in their last regular season match to stay alive for an NCAA berth.
On the road at Wake Forest, Duke came back from a one-goal deficit to beat the Demon Deacons in overtime. McCluskey scored another golden goal to add to the Blue Devils late season heroics.
"The golden goal against Wake Forest on senior night was also special," Church said. "We needed a win and the girls responded."
Despite the disappointing end of the season, Duke returns the core of it's offense and several young defensive players. Most of the young Blue Devils already have experience and should look forward to the postseason next year.
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