Duke does not need to examine complicated offensive and defensive schemes to avoid losing its second straight game.
When the fourth-ranked Blue Devils (4-1) clash with No. 9 Princeton (1-0) Sunday at 1 p.m., they need to improve one major aspect of their game-their intensity.
"Maryland just came in and outplayed us in the heart and hustle categories," senior attacker Leigh Jester said.
In Sunday's 19-18 loss, Duke came out flat, and the Terrapins immediately took advantage to race out to a 4-0 lead. The Blue Devils did come back near the end of the second half, but playing from behind for most of the game was too much to overcome.
Although the result of Sunday's game will officially go down as a loss on Duke's schedule, the Blue Devils believe that the experience will be beneficial in the long run.
"I think first and foremost, you have to try to draw positives," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "We played poorly and we were still in a position to win. We were down considerable margins, so I told the offense to chip away, and they did that successfully."
In fact, the 18 goals Duke scored marked the second-highest total of the season. Unfortunately, the Blue Devils were plagued Sunday by their inability to make defensive stops-the 19 goals Maryland scored were the most allowed in school history. Duke attributed the defensive lapses to a lack of focus.
"We made mistakes that allowed Maryland to score easy goals," Kimel said. "Our midfielders and defenders were sucked into ball-watching. We'll definitely watch film."
The Blue Devils will need to be mentally tough on offense and defense when Princeton enters Koskinen Stadium Sunday.
The defending Ivy League Champions return the last three Ivy League Rookies of the Year and have considerable experience at all positions.
The Tigers are led by junior Kate Lewis-Lamonica, who is a preseason candidate for the Tewaaraton Trophy-given to the top collegiate women's lacrosse player in the country-after scoring 38 goals last season.
And unlike Duke, Princeton enters Sunday's game on a winning note-the Tigers defeated No. 11 Johns Hopkins 11-10 in a thrilling overtime game March 3.
For the Blue Devils, the magnitude of Sunday's game makes it all the more important to come out ready to play.
"The loss was a real wake-up call for us," Kimel said. "Having this whole week to prepare is really valuable for us."
Solving these mental difficulties, however, is going to be a work in progress for Duke. Although the Blue Devils have seven senior leaders on their roster, these players have been thrust into an unfamiliar role.
"It's going to take some time to work things out," Jester said. "We're nowhere near where we want to be. We learned that we can't play without heart."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.