With just nine minutes left against heated rival North Carolina and the game tied at one, Blue Devil senior captain Sean Davis controlled the ball and lifted a pass toward the goal.
Freshman Cameron Moseley came streaking in toward the right goalpost and headed home Davis’ cross to complete the comeback and secure the biggest upset in recent history, as Duke knocked off the No. 1 Tar Heels 2-1. With the goal, Moseley cemented his spot as the Blue Devils’ newest young star and left many wondering where the standout rookie came from.
“As the ball crossed the 18-yard box, I just dove and essentially closed my eyes. The next thing I know, the crowd is cheering and the ball is in the goal,” Moseley said.
The freshman phenom left midfielder has been a revelation of sorts for Duke this year. He’s played less than half a season, but he’s already notched a signature Austin-Rivers-buzzer-beater-type moment. Moseley not only leads the team in scoring but is currently second in the ACC with five goals.
The success may come as a surprise to those who have not heard Moseley’s name before, but the Duluth, Ga., native has been a standout on the pitch from a young age. At Woodward Academy, Moseley led his squad to the 2012 Georgia AAA State Championship. But the success did not stop on the high school field.
Moseley played forward for most of his club career with the Concorde Fire, a U.S. Soccer Development Academy in Georgia. He led the team in scoring in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Then the letters started rolling in. But as Moseley is quick to point out, it was the first letter that left the deepest impression.
“Duke was the first school to kind of reach out to me. I reached out to the other schools, like Stanford, UCLA and UVA and I got a little contact from them,” Moseley said. “But Coach Kerr reached out to my coach, who contacted me, and I was really flattered by that and so he asked me to come take a visit in February of my sophomore year. So I did, and I never felt more at home. As soon as I left, I got the scholarship offer and I was like, ‘This is where I want to be.’ I cancelled all my other visits and two days later, I committed. Duke was home. It felt right.”
To prep for his first season of collegiate soccer, Moseley supplemented the summer workouts his coaches sent him with personalized workouts his dad made for him. He ran miles week after week while looking to improve his Cooper Test—running two miles in fewer than 12 minutes—to get into the best shape of his life.
“The level of club soccer is good and all, but it’s got nothing on college soccer,” Moseley said. “The pace, the power, the intensity, the mental aspect of the college game is just a whole other level.”
Along with the physical transition from club to college competition, the freshman was also tasked with making the transition from a Concorde Fire forward to a Blue Devil midfielder.
“I came in as a forward, but a couple weeks before the preseason, Coach emailed me and just talked to me about thinking about playing left mid,” Moseley said. “So I studied up on the position. I watched game after game of showing left mids... and I couldn’t get the hang of it. But once I got to Duke, they really helped me… and I think I’m starting really getting the hang of it now.”
When it came to adjusting to the college game, Moseley named team captain Sean Davis as the biggest aid to his development as a player since arriving at Duke. But Davis has been a role model for the young star for years, dating back to the freshman’s high school days.
“[Davis] was definitely the one guy that got me to commit to Duke. He is just the most amazing soccer player I’ve ever played with,” Moseley said. “It’s almost as if he’s from another planet. I just try to emulate my play after him, as does everyone else on the team because he leads by example.”
Although one look at the stat sheet seems to confirm the obvious, the humble Georgian dismissed any notions that he is a star yet. Despite his goal-scoring prowess and all-around skill, the midfielder only had high praise and thanks for the others on the team and his coaches for helping him get to where he is today.
“I’m definitely not a star,” Moseley said. “My goals have been the products of other players’ brilliant plays. I’ve just been truly blessed to have such a great start to my freshman season. I can’t thank my teammates and coaches enough for having the faith in me, because the first few games, my confidence was extremely low. I got injured and had to play myself back into the starting lineup, but all my teammates, my coaches, my friends, pushed me and encouraged me and I’m not a star. The team is the star, in and of itself.”
Off the field, the first-year intends to graduate with a degree in economics. Although a soccer career isn’t out of the question, he’s kept an open mind about the future.
“Going pro would be very nice, but I want to be realistic. That’s why I want to get my degree,” Moseley said. “If soccer wasn’t to work out, I’d definitely want to work on Wall Street. My dad did—he worked for Bank of America. That’s definitely something I’d want to do… At this point, I’m still weighing my options.”
The 19-year old is also a part of Duke Cru and attends church as often as he can. He’s a self-proclaimed bibliophile, reading everything from mainstream fantasy, like “Harry Potter”, to the classics, like “Dante’s Inferno.” Despite missing the home-cooked meals back in Duluth, he said that the best thing about Duke was the sense of family around campus.
Although it’s too early to gauge what Moseley could do for the Blue Devils in the postseason, he’s already just five points away from surpassing last year’s season-high set by then-freshman Brody Huitema. And though he’d likely never admit it, Moseley’s well on his way to becoming the face of Duke soccer.
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