It’s hard to top a season that garners you national recognition. As senior Kelly Cobb found out rather quickly, it’s even harder when that season is your freshman season.
When Cobb came to Durham from Chugiak, Alaska, she had high hopes for herself and for her team. But not even she envisioned the impact she would have immediately for the Blue Devils. During a season that resulted in a trip to the NCAA national championship game, Cobb totaled 31 points on her way to being named to Soccer America’s All-Freshman First Team, the All-ACC second team and the ACC’s All-Freshman team.
But it wasn’t just that she was so effective in the attacking third, it was how she was going about it. Cobb is a natural center forward who loves to attack defenders and take them on in one-on-one contests that more often than not end in her favor. And this aggressive style of play—which has proven time and again to work to her advantage—may have something to do with where she comes from.
“I had a unique experience as a player since I’m from Alaska,” Cobb said. “I got a different aspect of training than other players coming from other clubs. I got more individual training, and [I’m] more comfortable with 1-v-1’s down in the attack and getting turned and taking on defenders versus maybe a more tactical player who’s been coached on that area.”
But a roller-coaster freshman campaign was just the beginning of Cobb’s experience as a Blue Devil. After falling in the national title game, she didn’t have much time to dwell on the loss with her teammates as she had surgery on her ankle to repair some lingering damage from the year, then headed to Japan to compete in the U-20 World Cup with the United States.
After the bitter defeat that came just a few months prior, Cobb was able to taste the ultimate victory for the first time in her collegiate career as the U.S. claimed gold in Japan. But that victory came with two costs.
The first was to her health. While in Japan, she tore some cartilage in her knee which was serious enough to hinder her level of play, but not serious enough to require immediate attention.
The second was to her chemistry with her team. Cobb missed the first nine games of the season for the Blue Devils, and she missed an additional four games with an ankle injury. With so much time spent apart from her team, coupled with the injuries she was fighting through, Cobb wasn’t able to deliver the same magic she found her freshman year as her team went down in the national quarterfinals.
But that doesn't mean that the whole experience didn’t come with a silver lining.
“You just learn to appreciate the game so much more,” Cobb said. “I think that the injury just gives you perspective on how much you love the game. Every moment, every second, every day that you step on that pitch you should appreciate it. It’s an honor to put on the Duke jersey—to put on the USA jersey—and to just wear that with pride.”
After having another surgery—this time on her knee—Cobb missed another spring of practicing with her team and instead spent the time rehabbing so she could be cleared in time for her junior campaign. That season she was able to get a little bit closer to regaining her freshman form, accumulating 17 points and starting in 23 of the team's 24 games, but it ended in a similarly disappointing fashion with another knockout in the quarterfinals.
Now she returns for her senior season, and for the first time in three years, the 5-foot-10 forward is completely healthy. Not only that, but she has been able to practice and train with her team throughout the offseason. And this is a team very different from the others she has played with at Duke.
This season’s Blue Devils are incredibly young and though they are talented, the underclassmen will need a leader on the attack, and that’s exactly the role Cobb plans to fill.
“It’s definitely different being an upperclassman,” Cobb said. “It’s weird being in the leadership position, but I think what the younger classes bring in is a lot of talent, a lot of energy, and a lot of enthusiasm and they’re willing to listen to what we have to say. Obviously we have experience as seniors because we’ve been to the national championship; we have advice that we can offer to them.”
Head coach Robbie Church knows the importance of having Cobb back at top form to this team, especially considering its youth.
“We have to have a great year out of Kelly. She has to provide us an offensive spark,” Church said. “She’s healthy and she’s having fun and she can run without pain… She’s playing at a very high level and we have to have her playing at a really high level. She’s one of our top attacking options and Kelly has to provide goals and assists for us and really be a dangerous player for us off the dribble, off the pass, in combination play, and being able to run at players.”
Despite all the accolades she has received throughout her career—including bringing home a gold medal for her country—Cobb remains unsatisfied. After coming within inches of a national championship, the only goal she has for this year is to bring home a title to Durham.
For her, personal accomplishments only mean so much. The ultimate goal is about her team. It’s about her school. It’s about giving her last opportunity everything she has and leaving a lasting imprint on the program that she has given so much to and has given so much to her.
“I want to end my career out with a national championship, and I think anything else is less than satisfactory,” Cobb said. “I know that back when I was a freshman we went all the way to the national championship game—unfortunately we lost—but I still think every year that I’ve had at this program we’ve had the talent to go all the way so I’m hoping senior year I’ll end it right.”
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