Through the first five games of the regular season, the Blue Devils have outscored their opponents by an astounding 82-31 margin.
But next week Duke faces three top-10 teams—North Carolina, Princeton and Georgetown—who last year combined to go 3-2 against the Blue Devils and outscore them 51-44.
The fourth-ranked women’s lacrosse team (5-0, 1-0 in the ACC) has trampled lesser competition thus far, but the hardest stretch of their schedule begins in Durham Saturday at noon against the No. 8 Tar Heels.
“These are three of the most important games of our season,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “I think they will be a good test, and I think we’ll have a better understanding of where we are.”
Duke beat UNC in both of the teams’ meetings a year ago, including a 7-6 sudden-death overtime victory in Chapel Hill during the regular season. But Kimel said the Tar Heels are vastly improved this season.
“They’re a very scrappy, tough team,” senior Caline McHenry said. “We expect them to be very competitive and very tough-nosed.”
Since its Final Four run in 2002, North Carolina has struggled with depth and leadership issues. But entering this year, UNC head coach Jenny Levy said that larger freshman and sophomore classes have helped fill in the gaps in the midfield that haunted the Tar Heels a year ago and prevented them from earning an NCAA bid.
“The underclassmen have really brought in some more speed that we’ve lacked the last couple of years,” Levy said. “We have more speed and more numbers back on our team.”
Duke will counter with a fiery offense, headed by junior Katie Chrest and sophomore Kristen Waagbo, who have tallied 20 and 18 goals, respectively. Eight of Duke’s players have scored at least five goals already this season.
Because of the rivalry between the two schools and the competitiveness of last season’s two meetings, Chrest expects the contest to be hard fought.
“I think the biggest thing we’re going to have to do is take care of the ball and win the hustle categories because they’re going to come out fired up and wanting to win those,” Chrest said. “Whoever wins those—time of possession as well as the 50-50 situations—is going to be the winner.”
As the rest of Duke students relax on the beach and are away from Durham next week, the team will host No. 2 Princeton Wednesday and visit Washington, D.C. for a contest with No. 5 Georgetown March 19.
The Hoyas eliminated the Blue Devils in the opening round of last year’s NCAA Championship 13-12 in overtime and advanced to the Final Four. The Tigers made it even further but lost to Virginia in the National Championship game.
Kimel said both teams run a “deliberate” offense and are patient and selective, which will force Duke’s defense to adjust. But compared to a year ago, the Blue Devils have more experience and should be able to focus solely on lacrosse next week, without the distractions of other students and schoolwork.
“We’re more talented this year,” Kimel said. “I think we’re a better team with a better offense, and our defense is deeper. While we are better, they’re still going to be great games for us.”
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