After a 2012 season in which Duke’s offense faltered, head coach John Kerr had one clear objective for his 2013 team.
“This season we’re really focused on getting goals from more guys on the field,” he said. “This recruiting class that’s coming in is huge for us.”
Kerr is right—each of his four freshmen has garnered significant playing time, especially forward Brody Huitema and midfielder Seo-In Kim. The duo has started in each of the Blue Devils’ seven games so far, and both have quickly become key components of the squad’s revitalized offense.
“I don’t want to think that just because I’m a freshman I can’t make an impact, same with Brody, Jimmy [Doll] and Jared [Golestani],” Kim said. “We can make an impact if we put our minds to it.”
But something is different about Huitema and Kim. Including Duke's final exhibition game of the preseason, Huitema has scored four goals so far and Kim has assisted on three of them. A natural chemistry between the pair has allowed them to connect on the field, despite having only been teammates for a month.
“[Kim] plays similarly to the wingers I’ve played with before,” Huitema said. “That makes it easy… because I know what he’s going to do, and I react before he does it.”
Kim’s reasoning for the connection between the freshmen, however, is a bit simpler.
“It’s a bromance,” he said.
Huitema and Kim’s paths to becoming Blue Devils were similar, albeit in different countries. Huitema, a native of Chilliwack, British Colombia, trained with the Vancouver Whitecaps of the MLS from the time he was 16. Originally born in Sung'nam, South Korea, Kim grew up in the Midwest and was a member of Sporting Kansas City’s development program.
Kerr contacted the Whitecaps expressing his interest in Huitema early on in the recruitment process. The striker was touted as a pure goal scorer to recruiters after tallying 23 goals in 25 contests during his junior season—exactly what Kerr needed for his struggling Blue Devils.
“I really enjoyed my time with the team [during recruitment],” Huitema said. “It felt like it was a real group of team players whereas other schools where I visited were more fake. They had a plan set out here and it just felt right.”
Kim, however, didn’t even consider Duke until later in the process, when Kansas City U18 head coach Jon Parry—an old friend of Kerr’s—suggested the Blue Devils to the midfielder.
“Initially I wasn’t even planning on coming here,” he said. “But I loved… the upperclassmen and I just felt very wanted from the coaches. I knew when I came in I was going to have a lot of fun.”
But Kim didn't have fun immediately, with a grueling preseason to endure before seeing any game action. He came off the bench in his first scrimmage in Duke blue, registering a foul in 64 minutes of play.
“Preseason was definitely tiring,” Kim said. “We had two-a-days, and between those times I was honestly just sleeping. But it was hard work that was necessary for us to be successful.”
Huitema, meanwhile, didn’t get a chance to practice with the Blue Devils before taking the field with them. As a member of the Canadian U18 national team, Huitema spent most of his August playing in the COTIF U20 Tournament in Spain. After Canada placed fourth, Huitmea returned home the day before Duke’s final exhibition game and arrived in Durham the day of the match.
Despite any jet lag or exhaustion, Huitema got right into the swing of things, registering a goal against Old Dominion—assisted by Kim.
“I jumped right into it,” Huitema said. “Everyone here is so talented, so it’s not that different as playing with the national team.”
But going into the regular season, neither Huitema nor Kim could find the back of the net. In the first five games of the season, Huitema led the team with 19 shots but came away without a goal. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils’ offense was still struggling, only scoring multiple goals once.
“[Huitema] didn’t score in the first five games of his career… but he was causing havoc,” Kerr said. “We knew he was going to score goals, it was just a matter of time of him getting into the groove.”
Naturally, it was Kim who helped Huitema find his groove. With Duke down 2-0 Sept. 17 against Davidson, Kim was awarded a corner kick and lobbed the ball to the far post. Huitema, who was positioned there, headed the ball into the goal to cut the Blue Devils’ deficit in half.
The duo’s magic didn’t stop there. Duke tied the game in the 87th minute, but went back-and-forth with the Wildcats for most of the first overtime until Kim broke down the left side of the field and found Huitema. The forward beat the goalkeeper to secure the victory for the Blue Devils.
“There are just some players you play with, and you don’t have to know them a long time but you get a knack for how they play,” Kim said. “I play with Brody and I don’t really have to think. It’s a good thing when you have that chemistry together.”
Yet Huitema and Kim both say that their strong relationship on the field is due in part to their bromance off the field. The self-proclaimed jokesters spend much of their time together, which allows them to play their best when they step on the pitch.
“We mess around a lot,” Kim said. “But when we’re on the field, it’s business time…. For us to add to the score sheet as two freshmen, I think that’s pretty amazing.”
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