Going into the season, head coach Robbie Church had a few questions about his back line.
Two of his starters from last season, Natasha Anasi and Mollie Pathman, graduated in the spring. Malinda Allen, a rising sophomore who saw a lot of time on the back line as a freshman, went down with an injury, forcing her to redshirt this season. Another injury, this time to midfielder Cassie Pecht, forced Church to move Christina Gibbons, an outside back last season, to the midfield, leaving another hole in the Duke defense.
Sophomore Lizzy Raben was the only returning starter from last season’s back line. The two outside back positions went to freshmen Schuyler DeBree and Morgan Reid. Both players possessed a lot of talent but were inexperienced and left Church with one spot left to fill in his starting lineup.
That’s when Kara Wilson stepped in.
Before this season, Wilson had been a midfielder throughout her career. The junior from Potomac, Md., was a holding midfielder whose job was to play more defensively and facilitate the offense by creating outlet passes to her teammates. Church’s answer for filling the final spot in his back line was to move Wilson to center back.
“I’ve never really had any experience playing center back,” Wilson said. “I played outside back for portions of a couple of games last year but [had] no experience in the center. It’s definitely been a transition. It hasn’t been super tough because I played the holding midfield position in such a defensive way… so it’s been a natural transition.”
This weekend, Duke plays its final two home games of the season at Koskinen Stadium against No. 3 Virginia Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Boston College Sunday at 1:00 p.m. With the offense suffering from a dearth of production throughout all but one of its past five games, the bulk of the work could fall on the shoulders of Wilson and the back line.
Coming into 2014, the Blue Devil offense was supposed to be the team’s strongest component. Returning pieces such as senior forward Kelly Cobb and sophomore midfielder Toni Payne alongside newcomers like freshman sparkplug Imani Dorsey were supposed to help carry a team that was unsure about its defense. But Duke (7-7-1, 3-3-1 in the ACC) has struggled all season long with turning shots into goals. It is currently riding a streak of four out of five games without a goal.
Oddly enough, with all of the questions looming at the beginning of the season, Duke’s defense has emerged as the most consistent aspect of this year’s team. The Blue Devils have allowed two goals or more in only five games this season and have held their opponents scoreless six times.
Wilson has flourished at the center of this defense, but she hasn’t gotten there without help.
“I’ve definitely had the help of Lizzy [Raben],” Wilson said. “Having her help me and teach me different things in the position has been very helpful in getting to know the position and getting better at it…. The coaches, too, especially [assistant coach] Carla Overbeck [have helped].”
Wilson never was much of an offensive threat throughout her first two seasons as a midfielder, but this season she has been able to provide a slight spark in the attacking third. During her freshman and sophomore campaigns, Wilson combined for a total of seven shots. This season, as a central member of the back line, Wilson has registered 12 shots and though none have found the net, the shots have created opportunities for her teammates.
Although Church acknowledged that Wilson does need to work on her communication, he believes that she has turned out to be a key component to the defense. Despite her lack of experience, Wilson has become a leader on the back line.
“Everything has been excellent,” Church said. “She’s done a really good job…. Her leadership is that she is there every single day. She works hard, she sets an example, she’s not very vocal and that’s one thing she needs to continue [to] work on going into her senior year… but she always works, she always plays hard and as a coach it’s important to know how reliable she is. In that sense she’s been a fantastic leader.”
With three games remaining this season, Duke’s NCAA Tournament hopes hang in the balance. It will take at least a win and a draw for the Blue Devils to have a shot at qualifying for the tournament this season. The final game of the season is a trip to No. 2 Florida State, which makes the two games Duke plays at home this weekend even more important.
When it takes on the Cavaliers Thursday, Duke will compete against the best offense in the ACC. Virginia (14-1-0, 6-1-0) averages 3.47 goals per game, which is 0.66 more than the ACC’s second-most potent offense, Virginia Tech. The Blue Devils allowed two goals to the Hokies in a loss Sept. 28, and will need to play one of their best games of the season to stay with the Cavaliers.
Duke’s defense won’t get to relax after taking on Virginia. Boston College (10-6-0, 3-4-0) has the fifth-best offense in the conference, averaging 1.81 goals per game.
But Wilson and the rest of the Blue Devil back line will be ready to tackle the challenge and do their part to keep the season going.
“The biggest thing is just playing as a team,” Wilson said. “The pieces are there and we’ve been able to have a really good half… but we haven’t been able yet to string together a full 90 minutes and play hard as a team for a full 90 minutes…. We’ve got a great opportunity on Thursday and Sunday to turn around and these next couple of games are huge.”
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