Before the Blue Devils step into Koskinen Stadium Sunday at 1 p.m. against Northern Illinois, part of the game will already be over.
Because for Duke, preparation is everything.
In an up-and-down season that has been more up than down recently, Duke's attitude in practices and games has been the driving force behind its biggest victories and the greatest obstacle in its most disappointing losses.
After the Blue Devils seemed to overlook lowly Florida Atlantic in a 2-1 loss Oct. 14, Duke (9-5-2) insists that Northern Illinois (8-4-4) is not a team it will brush over-and it all starts in their practices for the game.
"We are very aware that teams come in here and want to beat us," head coach John Kerr said. "We have to be cautious and make sure that we don't overlook them. We have to come ready to play and prepare for them properly."
Duke's practices are crisp and highly competitive, with the players keeping each other accountable for maintaining the intensity. Although a week of practice primes the team physically, it is during the last hour before the players take the field when they get into their game-time mindsets.
To beat the Huskies, the Blue Devils will prepare as they do for any other game. It's a serious and business-like approach with focus on every detail. That isn't to say, however, that this preparation is without its own quirks and superstitions.
Arriving at the field with time to spare, the team kicks off its pregame routine by putting on its Duke gear. Each game, freshman defender Ian Kalis has his own routine that he refuses to stray from, just in case.
He starts by strapping on his left shin guard, and follows with his right. He slips on his left sock, then his right. And finally, he ties his left foot into his cleat first, and finishes with his right.
Left, right, left, right, left, right. Every single game. Always.
It's no wonder Duke's defense has been working like clockwork.
Despite his rigid rituals, Kalis said the tone of the Blue Devils' warmups is still lighthearted.
"I don't get too serious until the game," Kalis said. "I try to keep it casual. Soccer is fun-it's a game. I try to have fun out there."
While Kalis' pregame approach may be loose, it by no means suggests that a week's worth of intensity is lost. In the locker room minutes before the game, the players' voices die down, and each player is on his own to gather himself.
"It's like the calm before the storm," Kerr said. "It's a weird feeling.... The butterflies start to flow. That's good energy, and good pressure on you because you know that you're ready for the game."
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