With his offense sputtering in a disappointing first half of the season, women's soccer head coach Bill Hempen changed his defense.
And in the Duke adidas Women's Classic this past weekend, the Blue Devils (8-4 overall, 3-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) produced their best offensive output of the year.
"I guess defense turns into offense," senior midfielder Katherine Remy said. "I think we forgot how to win and play like that. [This weekend] does wonders for our confidence. Hopefully, this will be our turnaround."
On Friday night No. 18 Duke thrashed Ohio State 5-0. On Saturday night, the Blue Devils returned to Duke Soccer Stadium to record its fifth shutout of the season by defeating Texas 3-0.
By removing a forward and inserting another defender, Hempen employed a 3-5-2 formation intent on preventing the counterattacks that have cost Duke games. Before the tournament began, Hempen challenged his team to allow no goals in these two games. And his team responded by not just shutting out the competition, but by shutting it down. For the weekend, Duke outshot its opponents 36-11.
"We just decided that we were going to defend," Hempen said. "We put a premium on defending first and attacking second."
But the change had another effect. Instead of a less powerful offense, the offense exploded into a high-powered scoring machine. With five midfielders, Duke controlled the tempo of both games, keeping the ball on the opposition's side of the field for the majority of the time.
Four minutes into Friday's game, freshman sensation midfielder Kristy Whelchel opened the scoring deluge when she drove home a ball from fellow midfielder senior Cara Lyons.
Called "Duke's next dominant player" by Hempen, Whelchel spent her weekend displaying the talents that have earned her a starting spot in the Blue Devils lineup in her freshman season.
"Right now, I am still in the learning process," Whelchel said. "I am trying just to play completely hard and not make any mistakes. From not making mistakes, I am creating opportunities for myself."
With fewer forwards, the offense opens up giving Duke's skilled forward line more room to work. Also with three defenders instead of two, midfielders and defenders have more latitude to run up the field and fill the gaps when the situation presents itself.
"It allows more people to score," Walbert said. "We were depending on a few people to score because it was so crowded up front. The openness now allows everyone to get through. It allows for so much variety."
Following Whelchel's lead, classmate Marianna Muiruri scored unassisted. Minutes before halftime, sophomore Andi Melde netted a goal off an assist from senior Missy Durham giving Duke a commanding 3-0 halftime lead.
Instead of sitting on a lead, this new Duke team came out firing on all cylinders. Durham picked up right where she left off, but this time tallied a notch in the goal column after Walbert and Lyons combined for the assist.
Walbert closed out the game's scoring when she crushed the Buckeye goalie, Nicole Morris, en route to her 10th goal of the season. Even though 20 minutes remained on the clock after Walbert scored, Duke refused to lay back. The Blue Devils held a shooting drill against Ohio State goalies, Morris and Stacy Smith.
"They definitely gave up there at the end," Melde said. "It was a 5-0 game. But we just wanted to pound them tonight."
And pounding a team was exactly what the Blue Devils needed to do, as they played with an intensity and passion that has been missing all season.
From the onset, Duke hardly resembled the team that had lost its last two games. The Buckeyes could never surmount an attack, as Duke's reserves maintained the same intensity level as their starting counterparts.
"We had this inside of us," sophomore defender Samantha Baggett said. "It was just a matter of performing it on the field and getting ready before the game. That is key. People don't give enough credit to getting ready to play in warmups. You have to get pysched and get your game face."
After beating N.C. State on Friday, the Longhorns looked to steal the tournament against Duke on Saturday. Even with Baggett joining senior marking back Deanna Kreidel on the injured list, Duke would mess with Texas whenever it wanted.
The Longhorns should have known they were in over their heads after Duke's first goal. Twenty minutes into the game, Walbert took a pass from sophomore Lauren Cryan at the midfield line and raced down the entire field. After embarrassing a few Texas players, Walbert netted a goal past goalie Jaime Strong.
"By the time the ball went in, I just wanted to sit down because I was tired," Walbert said. " I just kept hearing [Coach Hempen] yelling `Run it. Take it' and I started to stress out. I was happy it went in because after a full sprint, you tend to flounder it. I was pretty excited and pretty surprised."
For her two goal and one assist weekend, Walbert won most valuable player honors and yet another adidas jacket for her wardrobe.
Just three minutes after Walbert's goal, junior Mandy Lehr's corner kick was redirected by Lyons and Melde to a waiting Whelchel. Whelchel, who was waiting at the top of the box, blasted a rocket that gave Duke a 2-0 halftime lead.
Two minutes after intermission ended, junior Emily Studebaker ended the scoring for this year's adidas Classic off a Remy cross. As time wound down on the Longhorns, one couldn't help but think that this is the Blue Devil team that harbored national championship aspirations before the season. A team that plays with intensity and finishes its offensive chances.
The new system highlights the skills of its playmakers by granting more room to maneuver. When an attacker does slip through, the defense usually possesses a numbers advantage. Perhaps more important than any formation was the confidence and energy that the Blue Devils brought to the field.
"They understand that they have to play with that intensity or every team they play can win," Hempen said. "Looking at their records, the teams we played weren't that great, but we had to work for everything that we got. I was very pleased with the effort."
"It just feels good to be ourselves," Remy said. "This is the old us and it feels good to be back."
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