Some would say that the best offense is a good defense. But is the best defense a good offense?
Duke certainly hopes so.
The Blue Devils enter the year with an injury-riddled back line. Four defenders will miss the season, including sophomore Ashley Rape, who was a standout defensive player last year before tearing her ACL in October. Junior Molly Lester and senior Sara Murphy will join Rape on the sidelines, along with freshman Kim DeCesare.
The good news for Duke comes on the attack, where seniors KayAnne Gummersall and Elisabeth Redmond will spearhead what could be the best attack the program has had in years. In 47 combined starts last season, the pair compiled 27 goals and 8 assists.
"The thing that we knew that was coming back was attack and our offensive side of play," head coach Robbie Church said. "We have two of our top goal scorers in the history of our program returning and they both have had an outstanding preseason."
With the returning firepower up front, look for the Blue Devil mindset to be focused solely on outscoring opponents.
"I'm excited for it, and I know Elisabeth is too," Gummersall said. "And that has always been one of our main goals: to score early and score often, so I don't think anything is really changing from last year."
One thing that could haunt Duke is the offensive consistency that was lacking last season. Sandwiched between a 6-0 win over Clemson and a 5-1 win over Radford late in the year was a three-game scoreless streak for the Blue Devils at the end of the ACC season.
Duke's seniors will look to avoid that kind of barren stretch this year as they try to give confidence to a young back line consisting of mostly freshmen.
In a scrimmage against Tennessee, the Blue Devils started two freshmen on the back line and played with three for the majority of the game, a trend that Church says will continue through the non-ACC schedule.
"Our incoming freshmen have done a fantastic job," he said. "We have had to replace a lot of players through graduation in our defensive backline, and they have done a really, really nice job."
Overall, the newcomers have impressed coaches and players alike.
"I think that [the freshmen] have stepped into those positions where we have lost a lot of injured players, and they are really tough," Redmond said. "That's what I think we need."
Duke will relieve some of the pressure on the backline through the play of Redmond and Gummersall up front, hoping that its offense can also serve as a first line of defense.
"It's been a different preseason," Church said, "We have had a ton of injuries pile up, but besides that we have been extremely, extremely impressed with what our young ladies have done and what we have accomplished over the two weeks."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.