For a team that allowed only 13 goals all season, getting knocked out in the second round of the 2005 NCAA tournament was not the way it wanted to go.
Duke ended last season on a disappointing defensive slip in the final minute of its 2-1 loss to Yale, even though its back unit had dominated all season long. This year, however, the Blue Devils are aiming to come back stronger, working with added depth and versatility on their roster.
Despite the loss of their defensive star to graduation-2005 first team All-ACC selection and ACC Defensive Player of the Year Carolyn Ford-as well as seven other seniors, head coach Robbie Church said the 2006 Blue Devils have a greater amount of depth.
"Some new players have come in, and they are at a really high level, and we've had some improvement from a couple of our other returning players," Church said. "I think that combination of bringing quality first-year players and the upperclassmen returning, working extremely hard and improving, has really made me excited about our potential."
With seven returning starters and a group of five freshmen that was ranked as the third-best recruiting class in the country competing for playing time, Church is trying to determine the right group to work together on the pitch.
Church said he has 17 or 18 players who are ready to play at the ACC level and will work with different combinations during the four weekends of games before conference matchups begin to select his starters.
"We are as deep as we've ever been here," said Church, who is in his sixth year at Duke. "They say I can only put 11 out to start the game, so it's going to take a little bit of time to find the right combination.... So we've got to be a little bit patient."
One area of concern for the team is its losses in the backfield-Ford and three-year starter Heidi Hollenbeck-who helped lead the team to 11 shutouts last season.
Returning for her senior year, however, is three-year starter, senior Rachel-Rose Cohen, to help defend the net with returning junior goalkeeper Allison Lipsher.
"Really anybody can step up," Cohen said. "I think the center backs should really be leaders in the center of the field. In reality I can step up, anybody can step up, any of the freshmen can step up. Carolyn Ford was a big loss, but I think that we'll be all right-we'll do great."
And Cohen is not alone when it comes to leadership and experience. In the midfield, seniors Rebecca Moros and Darby Kroyer-both 2005 All-ACC selections-will pace Duke. Kroyer returns as the team's leading scorer in 2005, and Moros trained with the Under-21 National Team the past spring and summer.
"The training environment was just really valuable for coming back here," Moros said of her experience with the U-21 team. "You meet a lot of people who have done a lot of things and have more experience than I did, and I learned a lot from that. There were some great leaders on that team, and I think I took things from them to come back here and be a better leader here."
Moros and Kroyer are joined in the attack by experienced senior Sarah McCabe and sophomore Christine McDonald, as well as newcomers KayAnne Gummersall and Elisabeth Redmond. Both freshmen were Parade All-Americans as high school seniors, and they will battle with upperclassmen for playing time.
"We've got players that can play in a lot of different positions in that class," Church said. "They will provide depth to our team, and make my job a little bit harder because of it. But that's okay-that's not a bad problem to have."
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