Duke, North Carolina prepare for ACC-heavy women's lacrosse Final Four

This weekend's Final Four at PPL Park might as well be the second edition of the ACC tournament.

Duke, North Carolina and Syracuse comprise three-quarters of the field that will head to Chester, Pa., for Friday's national semifinals. The Orange avenged a regular-season loss by knocking the Blue Devils out of the conference tournament semifinals in late April, followed by a victory against the Tar Heels in double-overtime to win the ACC tournament title.

The only non-ACC school at this year's Final Four—defending national champion Maryland—is just one year removed from winning the ACC title before bolting for the Big Ten, defeating Duke and Syracuse en route to last year's title.

And to add to all the ACC flavor, Friday's 5 p.m. showdown between the Tobacco Road rivals will take center stage.

"Anytime you've got a Duke-Carolina game, it's fun. The rivalry is so embedded in both university communities, so it just brings another level of excitement to the competition," North Carolina head coach Jenny Levy said during a conference call with reporters Monday. "The Duke-Carolina thing just magnifies it a little bit more. That's why you come to Carolina or Duke, to be a part of that rivalry because it's so fun."

Statistically, the Blue Devils and Tar Heels measure up well—both score more than 12 goals per game and allow fewer than eight goals per contest. But the routes taken by the teams to the season's final weekend have been quite different.

The key to Duke's success has been consistency. Bolstered by seven seniors who have been mainstays in head coach Kerstin Kimel's lineup since they were freshmen in 2012, the Blue Devils have relied on a prolific offense all year, with five scorers surpassing the 30-goal threshold.

The high-powered attack is largely a product of the continuity up front—senior attackers Kerrin Maurer, Brigid Smith and Katie Trees and midfielder Taylor Trimble have been long-time impact performers in Durham.

"I think that this group, because they've been on the field for a number of years, they're very experienced, and I also think that what's been special about them is that they've really come together as a class over the years," Kimel said Monday. "They know each other's tendencies well."

But in the regular-season meeting against North Carolina the offense was stifled. Duke was held to a season-low six goals as the Tar Heels doubled up the Blue Devils to claim the ACC regular-season crown.

Getting back to finding the open teammate instead of settling for shots will be critical in Friday's rematch against a North Carolina defensive line that features four experienced seniors of its own.

"Some of our offensive woes in that game came from the fact that we got put on our heels really quickly and were down. I think it's one of the only games of the year where it wasn't like a back-and-forth, one-, two-goal game—we got down three pretty quickly and had to climb out," Kimel said. "We settled for shots that weren't great—at low angles, under pressure when I think we could have worked harder with or without the ball to create better opportunities for ourselves."

As a result of logging high-volume minutes for four years, Duke's seniors—and their tendencies—have been the basis for many prior scouting reports and game plans devised by Levy, who said she felt like they had been in Durham "forever."

Scouting the same players for more than two years is an unusual occurrence in the ACC—traditionally one of the nation's strongest conferences. But those seniors have evolved from young players learning the college game to poised veterans that have pushed the Blue Devils to the edge of the title game.

Kimel noted that Trimble—a native of Rosemont, Pa., just outside Philadelphia—has continued to evolve her game throughout her career, making great strides on the defensive end as a senior.

"As a freshman she was thrown right into the fire," Kimel said. "Team defense is pretty clearly black and white but you also have to be fully engaged for entire possessions. I think sometimes that's hard when you're also thinking about, you're coming off a possession where either you scored or you're in an offensive mindset. Taylor's really evolved her whole game in that way and she's done a great job for us on the draw as well."

As consistent as the seniors have been for Duke, North Carolina has had to shuffle its starting lineup time and again. The Tar Heels have dealt with the injury bug for the second year in a row, losing sophomore attacking midfielder Molly Hendrick to an ACL tear in early April. Hendrick led North Carolina in goals and assists at the time of her injury. Redshirt senior Brittney Coppa tore the same ligament in an exhibition game prior to the 2014 season and is not completely healthy heading into Friday, with Levy saying during the conference call that the midfielder could see some playing time during the weekend.

With Hendrick out and Coppa not at 100 percent, Levy lauded the contributions of Marie McCool, Maggie Bill and Aly Messinger in their stead. That trio has combined for 87 goals and 35 assists entering play Friday.

"Obviously we'd love to have both of them still on our field because we think they're really good, but since we don't, it's time for other kids to up," Levy said.

With Duke's veteran offense going up against a seasoned North Carolina defense, one experienced team will be sent home Friday. But Kimel said she believes this year's Blue Devil team might be in a better position to advance than the one she brought to the Final Four in 2011.

"Every team is different, and the years that we've been in the Final Four and we haven't gotten past the semifinal game, it's been for all sorts of different reasons, most of which had something to do with our opponents," Kimel said. "We've got some depth both offensively and defensively as well, so I think in that regard that's something that separates us from teams in the past that have been in this position."