Losing four senior leaders would decimate most teams, but the Blue Devils will face this adversity together-as a tougher and tighter unit. Despite the low expectations given to this Blue Devil team, expected to finish in 7th in the ACC this year, the vibe among the players is optimistic.
The voices of Darrius Barnes, Pavelid Castaneda, Brendan Fitzgerald and Mike Grella will no longer echo over the Duke team come game day. The leadership role now lies in the hands of senior captains Josh Bienenfeld, Christian Ibeagha and Nick Tsipis. Replacing those graduated seniors is a necessity in rebuilding the style and flow of the team.
"It's hard to replace the talent and leadership they provide," Tsipis said. "But this is a new team and it's a new year. As a team together we hope to forge our own identity and we're really excited about what we're doing."
Last year's team focused mainly upon All-American forward Mike Grella, now playing for Leeds United in England's League One. In order to get the ball to Grella as often as possible the Blue Devil defensemen often resorted to a kick-and-run style of play.
The major problem with this approach is that it completely bypasses the midfielders, effectively taking them out of the game. Opposing teams exploited this weakness and ultimately dominated possession in midfield, giving them control of the game's tempo.
Sophomore forward Kyle Bethel will also miss the 2009 season after being suspended last week, leaving the forward position with an uncustomary lack of experience. Without a dominant force at the forward position, the 2009 team will need to adjust its style to a more holistic approach. Instead of bypassing the midfield like last year, Duke will now rely on it.
And although it struggled to drive play through the midfield last year, Duke's focus this year will be on continuity throughout the starting eleven.
"The major difference this year will be mental toughness and physical presence," head coach John Kerr said. "We will be playing more as a unit than we were last year. There's no replacing Mike Grella, but we can change our direction in terms of having players play on the same page, play as a unit and work for each other a little bit more than they did last year. That's really our goal-to be a harder-working team than we were last year"
The goal of a unified team rests on the shoulders of junior midfielder Cole Grossman, an anchor midfielder. Grossman will need to be the elastic band stretching between the defense and offense, binding them together. With the help of sophomore Temi Molinar, often the most explosive player on the pitch, the Blue Devil midfield has the talent to serve as the much-needed foundation of the team.
Filling in around these players will be both familiar and new faces. Kerr has high hopes for a specific freshman, Andrew Wenger, who will be filling one of the center defense spots. Ibeagha will be the other part of the center defense tandem.
"The team discipline, the approach, the whole attitude has been phenomenal," Kerr said. "The coaching staff, compared to last years group, is way ahead of where we were last year. It's very exciting, there a lot of fresh new faces and we have a fantastic leadership."
Kerr's team will be missing a trio of experienced underclassmen-sophomores Bethel, defender Ian Kalis and midfielder Joseph Pak were all suspended for the season last week-but the players he does have at his disposal have bought into the message: Duke lost some of its best-ever players, but the team's backbone will define its 2009 campaign.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.