With the Blue Devils in pink uniforms, coaches in pink hats and fans sporting promotional pink shirts, “Think Pink” will be the theme tonight at Koskinen Stadium as Duke takes on No. 9 Boston College at 7 p.m.
“It is something that the senior class really wanted,” head coach Robbie Church said. “We are really excited to do it and be involved in a great cause.”
Senior Marybeth Kreger said it is going to be great to have the community come together for the event and support the team. She added that hopefully the event will give Duke the confidence it needs to come out and beat the Eagles (10-3-1, 3-3-0 in the ACC).
The Blue Devils will need the extra motivation going into the home stretch of the season. With only three games left, each match is a must-win for Duke (8-5-3, 2-4-1) if it hopes to make the ACC tournament. Fortunately for the Blue Devils, all three of their remaining matches will be at home. Church said it is a huge advantage to have the last three games at home, noting the difficulty of this year’s schedule.
“Playing five of your first ACC games on the road is brutal, especially for a young team it’s really brutal,” Church said. “But we’re still in a decent situation.”
Redshirt freshman Callie Simpkins, who has four goals this season, including one Sunday in Duke’s 3-0 victory over Virginia Tech, said the team is in high spirits coming off two great performances in their last three games.
She attributed the Blue Devils’ recent success to a formation change that they made prior to their 4-1 victory over Clemson. Duke switched from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 to pick up the pace on offense and has scored seven goals since making the switch.
“At that point we had a decision to make: which direction we were going to go facing the second half of our ACC season,” Church said. “Were we just going to play it out or were we going to go right back to work and go right at it? The girls obviously chose the latter.”
Church said the team’s hard work in practice has translated directly to its play on the field and also mentioned the importance of scoring first in the final three regular season games.
“Those first goals are going to be key in our next three games,” Church said. “What we need is to get some energy goals. That first goal, that goes in early, keeps you playing hard and gives you energy.”
Kreger said Duke has to put its best effort forward because nothing is definite at this point in the season. Church agreed, adding that Boston College is a huge match for Duke.
“We really need to win or else we’re done, so it’s do or die right now,” Kreger said. “We’re ready to go. We’re excited and we’re hungry to get out there and get some wins.”
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