When second-ranked Duke (3-0) hosts Lehigh Wednesday at 1 p.m., the Blue Devils won't be focusing on their former interim coach Kevin Cassese manning the opposing sidelines at Koskinen Stadium.
In fact, Duke won't be focusing on the other team at all. Instead, the Blue Devils will be concentrating on their own huddle, looking to build off their 15-7 thrashing of then-No. 3 Maryland Saturday.
"Our concern is playing right each time out," head coach John Danowski said. "Practice right, practice every drill correctly, practice every situation in practice correctly.... That's been a big motto so far: play right. If you play right, hopefully things will take care of themselves."
The Blue Devils certainly played right against the Terrapins, as Duke's high-powered offense scored early and often to force Maryland out of its patient gameplan.
The Blue Devils expect a similar slow-down style from Cassese's Lehigh squad.
"We know they're going to be really well-coached," senior Matt Danowski said. "They'll probably try to slow the ball down a little bit."
Cassese served as a Duke assistant coach the last two seasons, sandwiched around his brief stint as interim head coach in the spring of 2006. Cassese was the head coach in-between Mike Pressler's resignation and John Danowski's hiring.
A 2003 graduate, the All-American midfielder helped lead Duke to consecutive ACC titles. Taylor Wray, a current assistant under Cassese, also played for the Blue Devils from 2000-2003.
Neither of them, however, will be suiting up for the Mountain Hawks (2-2) Wednesday. Lehigh's offense is headed by Ryan Cornetta, who scored four goals in the Mountain Hawks' 10-5 win over Holy Cross.
Even as they remain focused on their own play, the Blue Devils don't need to be reminded about the possibility of a letdown after a big conference win.
"With our leadership, everybody's staying focused and doing the right thing," senior Zack Greer said. "Hopefully we can overcome that and not worry about that too much and just go out and play."
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