Kerstin Kimel and Casey Stengal seemingly have nothing in common. One was one of the most famous baseball managers of all time, the other is one of the more famous women's lacrosse players in recent memory. Yet if Stengal were alive, the manager of baseball's worst team probably could have given Kimel a lot of advice on the frustrations of being at the helm of a first-year program.
Kimel knew it wouldn't be easy with a roster filled with only three seniors and 14 freshmen and sophomores, none of whom had played one minute of varsity lacrosse. Thus in her mind, she is really dealing with 22 freshmen. The Blue Devils could have taken the approach of their arch-rivals, the North Carolina Tar Heels, and filled the first-year roster with transfers. But instead Kimel decided to build from the ground up.
Still, she expected more than the two wins the team has accumulated this season. In creating her goals during the preseason, Kimel believed her team's athleticism could overcome its youth.
"I took for granted that we were so young," Kimel said. "It didn't hit me until the third game of the season that we are all freshmen and all sophomores. I had to look back and think when I was a freshman in college. We are expecting a lot out of these young players."
The other thing Kimel didn't factor in was the toll losing can take on any team. Most of the Blue Devil players played on top high school teams. They weren't used to winning only two games. Freshman Kendra Basner said recently that the team sat down and talked about the fact that few of the players had known how losing felt. The team didn't know how to react to a couple of losses in a row.
"We didn't know how to handle it and that's why we kept getting more in the hole," Basner said.
Basner was also frustrated with the team's outlook on Saturday's 14-9 loss to Virginia. As the final seconds ticked off the clock and Kimel substituted for her entire team, there was a feeling of sadness that the Blue Devils had fallen short once again. After the game, there were many congratulatory hugs from family and friends, and comments about how great it was for Duke to hang with Virginia so long. In Basner's mind, the low expectations may have added to the optimism after a loss. She said that maybe the pressure of not having to win was a negative instead of a positive.
Yet the team can't dismiss the first 45 minutes of Saturday's game, when it did play well against the No. 4 team in the country. Over that time span, the Blue Devils were playing together as a unit, hustling after loose balls and playing like a mature team. It was in the final 15 minutes when Duke showed its youth and simply fell apart. Freshman Meghan McLaughlin said Kimel has emphasized the players need to play on the same page, and the end of Saturday's game was an example of when the Blue Devils were not only on a different page, but some players were reading a different book.
What's been the most disheartening thing about this season is the team has come so close so many times. Six times, the Blue Devils have lost by three or fewer goals. And Saturday's game could be thrown into the mix of close calls, as Duke and UVa were tied with 20 minutes left in the game. Still, the Blue Devils seemed to run out of steam at the end, a sure sign of the team's inexperience.
"Virginia has the luxury of having a very deep bench. They can consistently substitute in fresh, very fast legs. We don't have that luxury," Kimel said. "I think [what's most frustrating] is running out of steam at the end of the game and losing [close] games."
While wins are obviously more desirable than close losses, Kimel said in Saturday's game the Blue Devils accomplished two goals. First, the team walked off the field feeling good about itself. But most importantly, Duke gained the respect of the more-talented and more-respected Cavaliers. The Blue Devils have been able to gain respect from top teams like UVa and Dartmouth, but Duke hasn't gained much credibility from lesser teams-like Richmond-a team Kimel said Duke should have defeated. The syndrome of playing to the ability of one's opponent is just another sign of the Blue Devils youth.
The Duke coaches have literally been noting all of the ways the first-year program can improve next year. Kimel and her assistant, Theresa Ingrim, have been carrying around a notebook so that whenever an idea about next year hits, they can instantly write it down. The list includes ways to handle the players and ways to recruit.
Kimel has already started building towards the future. The Blue Devils will have one of the top recruiting classes coming in next year, including many players whose expertise is speed. Yet the most important thing the Blue Devils will gain next year won't come from one of its recruits. It will come instead from the young players that suffered through this season. McLaughlin said the team will have more confidence. And with more confidence should come more wins.
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