Off to their best start since the 2007-08 season, the Blue Devils are more than ready to begin their ACC journey.
No. 5 Duke will hold its conference opener against No. 16 Notre Dame Sunday at noon at the West campus turf fields. The Blue Devils have had a full week to recover after playing three games in seven days and will look to stay unbeaten against the Fighting Irish.
Two of those three games were played in unfamiliar settings for Duke. Due to flooding at Koskinen Stadium after some winter weather, the Blue Devils' Feb. 22 game against William and Mary had to be played at the West campus turf fields—a contest Duke won, 17-7. Three days before, the Blue Devils took down then-No. 6 Northwestern 15-9 at the Wildcats’ indoor facility.
Wednesday's snowstorm has also pushed Sunday's contest against Notre Dame to the turf fields off of Bassett Drive, with Koskinen Stadium not ready for competition.
“A theme for us this year is we’ve got to be adaptable,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said after the game against the Tribe. “I think our kids have responded really well, and I’m really proud of them.”
With the resounding victory against William and Mary, Kimel recorded her 250th win as a head coach, becoming one of five active coaches to reach that milestone in Division I women’s lacrosse. The win was her 246th victory in her 20th season as the head coach of the Blue Devils.
Duke (5-0) is averaging 15.2 goals per contest and has outscored its rivals by 9.0 goals per game early in the season. Two seniors spearhead the Blue Devil attack—Kerrin Maurer with 12 goals and Katie Trees with 10. The veterans have combined for 12 goals in the last two games.
Against Northwestern, Maurer netted a hat trick and added two assists. The Setauket, N.Y., native repeated those scoring and assisting numbers against William and Mary, which earned her ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors. The senior joins veteran midfielder Taylor Trimble on the 2015 Tewaaraton Award watch list, an award honoring the top male and female players of the year.
If Notre Dame (3-1) is able to contain Maurer and Trees—something most opponents have struggled to do—Duke can use a few contingency plans.
Eleven other Blue Devils have scored at least one goal this season. Senior Chelsea Landon notched a hat trick Sunday, and freshman Kyra Harney and junior Emma Lazaroff registered two goals apiece. Trimble has found the back of the net nine times this season.
“A lot of people have stepped up this year and made it difficult for defenses to mark one person,” Maurer said after the win against the Tribe.
Behind the prolific offense has been a defense that has played just as well to keep Duke in the winning column. None of Duke’s five non-conference opponents scored in double digits, including Northwestern—winners of seven of the past eight national championships—mainly thanks to junior goalkeeper Kelsey Duryea.
The Beverley, Mass., native ranks second in the ACC in save percentage at 55.9 percent. The Blue Devil defense held William and Mary scoreless for more than 43 minutes as Duryea delivered nine saves for the third straight contest and created a career-high three turnovers.
After her standout performance, Duryea was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. She attributed her success between the pipes to the team's work on communicating.
“A lot of us have played together for two years but there are some new girls getting in,” Duryea said Feb. 22. “Really just working to get the chemistry and anticipating what each other’s going to do, we work on that in practice, and games are great for that.”
Averaging 14.5 goals per game and with a 2-1 road record this year, the Fighting Irish has the offensive potential to prevent Duke’s sixth straight win and the Blue Devils’ first conference victory of the year.
Notre Dame routed California 17-7 Feb. 22 behind a hat trick each from sophomore Heidi Annaheim and junior Stephanie Toy. Junior Rachel Sexton is Notre Dame’s top scorer with 11 goals on the year, and sophomore Cortney Fortunato has registered seven assists in four games. Two Fighting Irish players—Fortunato and senior defender Barbara Sullivan—are also included on the Tewaaraton Award watch list.
After hosting the Fighting Irish Sunday, Duke will play its second ACC game against Virginia Tech March 6 in Durham.
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