For three years, the one constant in the Blue Devil back line has been the hard-nosed play of Gretchen Miller. Miller, who made an immediate impact on the team in 2007, has started an astounding 67 of Duke’s 68 total games over her career and helped guide the Blue Devils to 31 shutouts during that period.
But while Miller was recruited by head coach Robbie Church to come and play in the back, the Fairport, N.Y., native was renowned for torching defenses in high school. She scored 34 goals through her first two seasons before being sidelined with a knee injury as a junior, made a comeback her senior year and earned All-Rochester honors in the process.
With a position change back to forward this year, Miller will seek to regain that scoring touch that made her unstoppable in high school.
“We knew what she could do in the back, but now we have some depth with the return of Ashley Rape and the emergence of Libby Jandl,” Church said. “So we thought ‘Let’s try it and see what happens.’”
The switch might have come sooner if not for the strength over the years of the Blue Devil front line. Miller’s services were more urgently needed in defense, despite her scoring acumen. Due to numerous season-ending injuries to the defensive unit last year, Miller was called on to mentor a green group of freshmen along the back line and helped change what was a team weakness into an asset. With those then-freshmen now comfortable in their roles, and the return of upperclassmen from injury, Miller has the opportunity to shine up front.
“The decision was one that I’d been thinking about for a while,” Miller said. “This year seemed like the best opportunity [to make the switch], and Robbie was very open to the idea.”
After spending the spring season training exclusively as a forward, Miller offers a valuable option to Church as a striker off the bench, and may yet move into the starting lineup as the season progresses. The senior faces stiff competition in the form of freshmen Laura Weinberg and Mollie Pathman, but for now, Miller is reveling in the chance to score goals.
“It’s my favorite position. I love the creativity you can have as a forward,” Miller said.
Gifted with a deep understanding of the game and a sledgehammer-like shot—the hardest on the team, Church said —Miller should prove invaluable to the No. 18 Blue Devils (2-1-0) as they move towards the challenging ACC season.
Though she has yet to register a goal in 2010, Miller leads the team in shots through three games, and should see her fair share of chances against unranked Francis Marion (1-4-0) tonight. The Patriots, who won only three games last year, are the first opponent of a seven-game home stand for Duke.
With only one ranked opponent on the horizon before the Blue Devils face ACC rival Wake Forest September 23, Duke has a great chance to stockpile wins and form an attractive record for the NCAA selection committee. Church, however, knows a successful team takes time to mesh and sees the next month as a pivotal stretch in the schedule.
“One of our goals this year is to go undefeated at home,” Church said. “We’ve got a very high winning percentage at Koskinen Stadium. . . and I think the girls are starting to realize that we can play with anyone in the country.”
The Blue Devils play Francis Marion tonight at 7:00 in Koskinen Stadium.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.