Opening the season with a new starting goalkeeper and two freshman backs, one would think that the Blue Devils’ defense must be a weakness.
After a 2-0 shutout of Long Island University Sept. 1 and a 3-1 victory over then No. 20 St. Louis Sept. 3, however, Duke’s defense has stood out as the Blue Devils’ most effective weapon thus far.
Head coach John Rennie has stressed the importance of team defense to his squad since the preseason, and it appears that the approach has been successful thus far.
Duke has smothered opposing offenses in its first two games. LIU managed just one shot on goal in Thursday’s season opener, while St. Louis had only three.
“You play defense as a team, not just as a back four and a goalkeeper,” Rennie said. “We’ve been working on a little bit of everything with emphasis on team defense. It’ s a little different formation than we played last year, and we’re still getting used to it. That’s where our biggest need has been.”
The Blue Devils intensified focus on team defense has much to do with their new field alignment. Coach Rennie decided to switch from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 in an effort to find a formation that would best enhance the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of his current team. With their inexperience in the backfield, the Blue Devils had hoped that a team approach to defense would take some of the pressure off first-time starter Justin Papadakis. So far, it has worked well, and Papadakis admitted that the team’s new formation and approach to defense has helped him adjust more easily to his new starting role.
“I think this whole thing of team defense has worked well with our team,” Papadakis said. “It’s made me feel more comfortable and our backs are coming together now.”
Coach Rennie has been impressed with Papadakis’ performance thus far and it appears that Duke has found a solid replacement for 2005 graduate Justin Trowbridge.
“I think [Papadakis] has been terrific,” Rennie said. “He had an outstanding game at St. Louis and if we were going to win that game he had to play well. He’s started out this season at the high level we need him to be at. He’s done a great job.”
Beyond shutting down opponents, Duke’s defensive prowess has bolstered the Blue Devils’ already explosive offense. With great faith in their ability to defend, Duke has been more ambitious on the attack and the offense looks spontaneous, transitioning fluidly from defense to offense. Duke has taken 36 shots this season while opponents have taken only 12.
“It just gives the offense the ability to take as many chances as we need to. We know we’re not going to get scored on,” striker Spencer Wadsworth said. “We can take more risks and we know that we’ll be safe in the back and not get scored on.”
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