The problem for the Blue Devils this season, curiously enough, has not been ranked opponents—it has been the unranked ones.
After losing two of its last three games against unranked opponents, No. 14 Duke looks for consistency as it travels to New York to face Columbia Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Robert K. Kraft Field. Coming of their most complete victory of the season—a 16-5 domination of then-No. 5 Louisville—midfielder Maddie Crutchfield and company hope to ride the offensive momentum from the statement match against the Cardinals.
With a largely inexperienced group of attackmen, the Blue Devils were expected to struggle to score early in the season. Excluding a 20-4 victory against Campbell, that has been the case for parts of the year, with Duke failing to register at least 10 goals in every loss this season.
But then in a potentially crushing matchup against then-No. 13 Pennsylvania, the offense woke up from its slumber with 12 goals and has rarely let up since, showing its full potential with a 16-goal outburst Saturday. With contests against a slew of top-15 squads—including Virginia, Syracuse, North Carolina and Notre Dame—looming on the horizon as the meat of the conference schedule approaches, the match with the Lions is crucial for the Blue Devils to continue establishing an offensive rhythm.
“A big element of our focus right now is to put together a win streak. We’ve lost one, and we say we need to win the next one and we do that,” senior captain and attacker Kelci Smesko said after Saturday's win. “I think [the Louisville game] shows what this team is capable of, and that’s just so exciting to see that we can be this good every game.”
Columbia (2-3) has averaged just less than 10 goals a game this season, and the Lions’ veteran attack has not reached its full potential yet, mustering only 13 goals combined in losses to Harvard and Cornell. Sara Ruzzi’s 10 tallies and Victoria Kalamaras’ five assists lead Columbia, and the Lions are backstopped by goalkeeper Kelsey Gedin.
Crutchfield’s six assists against the Cardinals would lead Columbia right now, and her record-setting single-game assist performance for the Blue Devils (5-4) did not come just as a distributor. The Concord, N.H., native added three goals as well, leading to her national recognition as Lacrosse Magazine's Player of the Week.
Duke’s defense, its best unit, also came together against Louisville, limiting the Cardinals to a season-low scoring output. Headed by senior goaltender Kelsey Duryea—the nation’s save percentage leader—and star defenseman Claire Scarrone, the Blue Devils have surrendered only 7.44 goals per game. Duke's ability to cause turnovers has led to numerous odd-man rushes for its attacking group, giving the team's inexperienced front-line plenty of golden scoring opportunities.
“We had talked about playing a full 60-plus minute game [before the Louisville match],” Duryea said. “From the defensive end to the attacking end, there have been some games where the attackers are having a great game and [the defense] isn’t and vice versa. For us to play end-line to end-line was really important.”
But the Blue Devils cannot just rely on their defense against lesser opponents, and Crutchfield will again have to lead an inexperienced attack to victory with the help of Smesko and leading scorer Kyra Harney. In its losses, it has been the offense that has doomed Duke, and in a trap game against Columbia, a consistent attacking performance will go a long way for the Blue Devils, who hope to emerge from New York with a victory.
“I think we’re young and we’re inconsistent. We expected this to a degree and it’s not something I enjoy or I’m happy about, nor do the kids, but I think that each time we bounce back, we bounce back better in terms of how we’re performing and how we’re executing on the field,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “What our team has to do on a more consistent basis is hold [opposing teams] to a higher standard both in terms of practice and play.”
Ryan Hoerger contributed reporting.
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