The 2012 Blue Devil squad may have had a graduating class of only one, but the 2013 team is now without its most consistent player over the last four seasons.
Former goalkeeper James Belshaw graduated in December and was subsequently drafted by the Chicago Fire in the Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft. The two-year captain ended his career in Durham with 21 shutouts, a 1.04-goals against average, three All-ACC selections and was named a third team All-American his senior year.
“James Belshaw had an incredible career at Duke which will be tough to beat,” Duke head coach John Kerr said. “And [the goalkeeper position] was kind of a concern for us going into a season.”
So who will be able to replace the seemingly irreplaceable, the anchor of the Duke defense and team for four years?
Enter Alex Long.
Long grew up in Cary, North Carolina, only a 30-minute car ride from Durham. He was being recruited by Duke while he attended Green Hope High School, but ultimately chose South Carolina because of its strong goalkeeper program.
“I wanted to follow the paths that the other goalkeepers there have taken,” Long said. “They have a very good goalkeeper program there and a few guys that stood out to me.”
One of those guys was Brad Guzan, a Gamecock alumnus who was the 2007 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year. Guzan has played on Aston Villa Football Club in the English Premier League since 2008 and was named Aston Villa’s player of the year for the 2012-13 season.
From the start of his high-school recruitment process, Long aspired to take a path similar to Guzan’s. But first, he had to redshirt his first year as a Gamecock in favor of then-junior goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer. Long hardly saw any action the following year either, playing only 17 minutes in a shared shutout with Maurer.
It was his redshirt-sophomore year that Long got his chance to mind the net, helping South Carolina to a share of the Conference USA regular-season title and a spot in the NCAA tournament while averaging 1.56-goals against and recording three shutouts.
Long couldn’t follow up in his redshirt-junior season, with both his goals against average rising and minutes declining. Despite his struggles, Long compares his season to the Blue Devils’ in 2012—a tough, losing battle, but with only upside.
“I know [Duke’s] season was kind of a struggle, and that happened to me at South Carolina too,” Long said. “But we’re all really hungry, and we still have a lot of room for improvement. We have a long way to go, but if we put in the work I think we’ll be really good.”
Long made the decision to head north to Durham this past offseason, after realizing that, with three young goalkeepers waiting in the wings, Columbia wasn’t the right place for him to take his post-graduate year. He reached out to Duke after it made a lasting impression on him from his recruitment.
“Transferring was a bit unexpected, but the coaches [at South Carolina] and I decided it was time for me to move on,” Long said. “Growing up here, this is one of the first schools I looked at for both academics and athletics.”
Kerr wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to finally land his recruit, even if it was four years later than he had planned. After a solid preseason, Kerr decided to start Long in goal in place of sophomore Wade Clement, junior Wilson Fisher and senior Alex Merrill.
“I knew the kid, and he had a really good career at South Carolina,” Kerr said. “He played a lot of games and comes in as a really experienced goalkeeper. He’s had an exceptional preseason and all the guys have taken to him right away. We feel really confident with him back there.”
Long has had a successful run at Koskinen Stadium so far this season, giving up only one goal in his two games so far as a Blue Devil, including a shutout Sunday against Northeastern. But even with the success, Long is still just grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s been incredible,” he said. “I tell the guys every day I’m so blessed to have these facilities and professors. It’s a whole different atmosphere, and I appreciate everything.”
Although Long is excited about his time in Duke so far, he knows the team’s ceiling is far from being reached.
“Anyone in the crowd can see our potential,” Long said. “It’s just a matter of our mentality. The attitude’s there, but we just need to be a little sharper. We have a lot of room for potential.”
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