In the first three years of its existence, the women's lacrosse team has conquered all of its ACC foes but one-Virginia.
Tomorrow, the Blue Devils (8-1, 1-1 in the ACC) travel to Charlottesville, Va., to try to break that streak and prove that there's a first time for everything.
But despite the added incentive to defeat the Cavaliers, the Blue Devils see Saturday's matchup as just another game.
"We see it as our next big game," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "A lesser team would go, 'It's UVa, let's kill them.' We're trying to take a more mature approach by looking at it as just our next game, and instead of focusing on UVa, just concentrating on Duke and on playing well."
This time around, however, the odds seem to rest in Duke's favor. For the first time, the second-ranked Blue Devils sit higher atop the polls than the fourth-ranked Cavaliers.
If Duke comes away with a win over Virginia tomorrow, the Blue Devils will achieve another first-their first-ever winning season in the ACC. Nevertheless, Duke is trying to relax and not worry about what's at stake.
"We're looking at this game in the way that a win would be great, but a loss won't be the end of the world... and that takes some of the pressure off us," Kimel said. "Despite our ranking and getting into the NCAA tournament last year, we're still viewed, and we still view ourselves, as the underdog, because we are still a young team, and we are still inexperienced. That gives us less stress to deal with."
Despite its early success this season, Duke feels it still has room for improvement. First and foremost, the Blue Devils have been working in practice on honing their defense.
"We need to improve our defense, especially coming out on transition," Kimel said. "We're not sharp, and we're not communicating well and that's something we can work on. We're striving to meet our potential, and with some good solid practices under our belts, these are things we can resolve."
Duke will need to bring one of its best defensive efforts to the table. The Cavalier offense is led by two second-team All-American midfielders in Mia Mooney and Samm Taylor. Mooney, UVa's all-time scoring leader, has tallied 61 goals and 25 assists during her career.
But it is neither Mooney nor Taylor who headlines the Wahoo offense this year. Attacker/midfielder Jamie Haas, a redshirt sophomore, leads UVa in scoring with 14 goals and three assists on the season.
Not only do the Cavaliers boast a strong offensive attack, but their defense is the strongest in the ACC, allowing a league-low 5.9 goals per game. The Cavaliers' stingy defense is led by goalkeeper Francis Segarra. In her first year of starting between the goalposts, the junior has been effective in stopping opposing attackers, recording the ACC's lowest goals-against average at 5.31.
Despite having to face a suffocating defense and a losing tradition, the Blue Devils stand a chance of bringing back not only a win but a few significant firsts.
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