Coming off a hard fought 12-11 win over then-No. 9 Georgetown March 15, the Blue Devils' remaining schedule showed they had a week to prepare but no time to waste.
No. 4 Duke (7-1, 1-0 in the ACC) takes on ninth-ranked North Carolina (6-2, 0-1) in Chapel Hill Saturday at 1 p.m., and if history stays its course, the game will be as close as it gets.
"UNC is always an incredibly physical team," head coach Kerstin Kimel said. "They're usually a very fit team, very fast-those are kind of the hallmarks of their program, so I think they always create some match up problems for us.... It doesn't matter who the favorite is, they can easily lose, and it's usually by one goal."
In the past three seasons the neighboring squads have met five times, and four of those matches were decided by two goals or less. Over that same period neither Duke nor North Carolina has been ranked lower than 11th when they faced off.
"With the rival-type games it comes down to the heart and hustle categories and which team will do the most to pull through in the end," junior midfielder Jess Adams said. "We're excited for this game."
With seven full days to prepare for the Tar Heels, the Blue Devils could have easily lost their focus in the hype, the tradition or the storied rivalry. But they haven't.
"We've spent a lot time just working on the things that we need to work on-just focusing a lot on us," Adams said.
Such an approach might seem unnecessary. After all, Duke is ranked fourth nationally in points, eighth in offense, and is a top-30 defensive squad. The Blue Devils field an outstanding offensive player in Carolyn Davis, who has recorded 27 goals and 10 assists this season. On paper, it doesn't look like there is much to improve.
"We are just trying to get better at what we're already doing," Kimel said. "We have a lot of kids that can play but we want to make sure that we keep them sharp and focused so they're ready to help us out."
North Carolina, though still a nationally dominant team, has not played its best lacrosse this month. The squad heads into Saturday's contest having lost two of its last four matches, including a 16-5 beating by No. 3 Virginia. Still, for the Blue Devils, none of this matters.
"It's an ACC competition, we're smart enough to know that Carolina's going to bring it," senior Allie Johnson said. "It's a Carolina-Duke game. It doesn't matter that Virginia played well against them. I think we'll play well against them but it will be a tough game."
It will be one of many tough contests for the Blue Devils to close out the season. In a stretch Kimel called "ridiculous," Duke will face four top-10 teams in its last six games of the season-Virginia, Northwestern, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt-after the matchup with North Carolina.
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