Duke faces a daunting task to turn around its two-game skid. Trying to avoid a third consecutive loss, the Blue Devils will travel to Evanston, Ill. this weekend to take on perennial powerhouse Northwestern—a program that has been crowned national champions in seven of the past eight years.
After dropping one-point decisions to then-No. 3 North Carolina and unranked Boston College the past two weeks, No. 9 Duke (9-3) will have to slow down a Wildcat squad that has won its last nine contests Friday at 8 p.m. at Lakeside Field.
“The biggest thing for us right now is trying to sort out draw controls,” head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “They were the biggest factor in both games.”
Against the Tar Heels March 28, the Blue Devils lost the draw-control battle 18-9 and lost both draws in overtime. The Eagles also doubled Duke’s draw-control total, recording 14 to the Blue Devils’ seven last Saturday.
Although the Blue Devils shot well and defended well, Kimel said, shortcomings on the draw proved too much to overcome.
“It’s hard to score when you don’t have the ball,” Kimel said.
The challenge of wining the battle for the draw only gets more difficult with No. 4 Northwestern (11-1) as Wildcat junior Alyssa Leonard ranks second in the nation in draw controls per game, averaging 6.92 through 12 contests this year.
“The girl that takes the draw for Northwestern is very good, probably one of the top in the country, and that’s been a huge focus for us,” Kimel said.
The Wildcats also boast one of the top goalies in sophomore Bridget Bianco, who owns the third-best goals-against average in the country at 6.97 and one of the nation’s top scorers in senior Erin Fitzgerald, who nets 3.25 goals per game. As a team, the Northwestern offense ranks 11th in the nation, averaging 13.95 goals per game—half a goal better than Duke.
“They tend to be very deliberate in their possessions,” Kimel said. “[We are] trying to have a couple of different things defensively so that we can not let them get very comfortable from an offensive standpoint.”
Despite Northwestern’s dominant run during the past nine games, Wildcat head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller voiced her concern about how Duke’s close losses might provide motivation.
“Duke’s a great team,” Amonte Hiller said. “They’re coming off a tough loss against B.C. so I’m sure they’re focusing in and training hard, and they’re going to be ready.”
Despite losing, the Blue Devils have shot well, putting 87.5 percent of their shots on goal, which is slightly higher than their season average. On the defensive end, although they have given up double-digit goal totals in the last two games, freshman goalie Kelsey Duryea has saved 52.2 percent of the shots she has faced.
Duryea sat out the opening matches of the season recovering from an injury, but since stepping into the cage against against Maryland Feb. 24, the freshman ranks first in the nation with a save percentage of 54.6 percent through eight games. “We couldn’t be happier with her, and the fact that she’s only been cleared for the last month and a half is really amazing,” Kimel said. “Kelsey’s ability to do well is also a reflection of our defense. They’re giving her shots that she can save.”
Against the Wildcats, Duryea and the Duke back line will face one of its toughest tests of the season but will benefit greatly from a strong performance on the draw.
“We have a great rivalry against Duke,” Amonte Hiler said. “And it’s going to be a great matchup.”
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