Another road trip for the Blue Devils, another record on the horizon.
No. 4 Duke will visit Klockner Stadium to take on No. 8 Virginia Saturday at 1 p.m. in its fourth conference game. With a victory against the Cavaliers, the Blue Devils will surpass their best start to a season since 2006.
“It will be a great ACC matchup for they’re a very well-coached team and always have great seasons,” senior attacker Kerrin Maurer said.
Beating Virginia (5-4, 0-2 in the ACC)—a team averaging 12.4 goals per contest and allowing 10.7—will be tough, but Duke (9-0, 3-0) is up to the task.
Last year, the Blue Devils went 1-1 against the Cavaliers. Led by then-juniors Maurer, Brigid Smith and Taylor Trimble—who combined for nine goals and four assists—Duke routed Virginia 16-11 in Durham March 22. But one month later, the Cavaliers exacted their revenge, defeating the Blue Devils 7-5 in Chestnut Hill, Mass., in the ACC quarterfinals. Maurer and Trimble registered one goal and one assist apiece.
Veterans lead the team’s offense once again this year. Maurer leads the team with 20 goals and 17 assists, and Trimble and Smith have combined for 35 scores and have fed their teammates 19 times. Katie Trees, Chelsea Landon and Erin Tenneson add 32 goals and 10 assists for a squad that averages 14.4 scores per contest.
“Our senior class has stepped into the leadership position this year and is doing a great job on and off the field,” Maurer said. “Seniors help the team excel in a lot of areas that we’ve been weak in the past because we were young.”
Junior goalkeeper Duryea and the Blue Devils defenders are putting up standout numbers this season. Only one out of Duke’s nine opponents has reached double figures, and Duryea is averaging 7.0 saves and 2.1 groundballs per game.
“Even though defenders don’t get too much attention from papers and media, we’re in charge of a hard aspect of the game,” senior defender Gabby Moise said. “Every time we win, we might not get the public glory, but it’s a team satisfaction for us.”
Moise said that when defenders turned the ball over or made a mistake in the past contests, they knew that the junior goalie would step up to stifle the scoring opportunity.
“Duryea is the anchor that holds the defense down,” Moise said.
Virginia enters Saturday's contest on a two-game winning streak after the Cavaliers took down Princeton 18-11 March 14 and James Madison 14-12 Wednesday.
Like the Blue Devils seniors, Virginia veterans lead their squad’s offense as redshirt senior attacker Liza Blue is the Cavaliers’ top scorer with 23 goals, and veteran midfielder Courtney Swan and attacker Casey Blocket have registered 15 assists apiece. Freshman goalkeeper Rachel Vander Kolk has played all nine games for Virginia this season, totaling 55 saves.
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