The hallmark of exceptional teams is overcoming adversity, and coming off its first disappointment of the year, Duke will have an early chance to test the team’s maturity.
After suffering a heartbreaking loss against then-No. 11 Notre Dame Sunday—a game in which the Blue Devils were in control for all but the final two minutes—a relatively young squad will have to prove its mettle in its second conference matchup of the season.
No. 10 Duke will host No. 19 Virginia Tech Saturday at 1 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium looking to avoid a 0-2 start in ACC play. It will not be easy against the Hokies, who boast the seventh-best scoring margin the NCAA this season behind a +12 differential in shots on goal, an area the Blue Devils struggled in against the Fighting Irish.
“I really want us to come out like we are shot out of a cannon Saturday,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “It’s important for our confidence to start strong. We need to dictate the pace of the game.”
Most of the Blue Devils’ struggles last contest can be attributed to their possession numbers, which have been impacted by the introduction of the shot clock since the start of the season. Duke (4-1, 0-1 in the ACC) has not been able to adapt nearly as well as other top teams to the new system, as it has averaged 19.6 turnovers per game and was plagued by 20 giveaways against Notre Dame.
These Blue Devil mistakes have been all over the field, too, both disrupting offensive possessions and also giving opponents prime opportunities deep in Duke’s defensive third of the field. The Blue Devils were only successful clearing the ball 14-of-23 times Sunday, including a dismal 5-of-10 performance in the second half that allowed the Fighting Irish to mount their comeback.
“We have to cut down on the self-stick errors. We’ve made some good progress this week, but some of it is mechanical, some of it’s mental and we just have to keep working to get better at that,” Kimel said. “We can be better in that area, and we’re not going to accept it until we are.”
The Blue Devils had some positive takeaways from the defeat—particularly the play of sophomore attack Olivia Jenner. After a strong finish to her rookie season, Jenner has cemented herself as one of Duke’s best offensive threats up front, as she registered a career-best seven points her last time out. And her attacking abilities may not even be her best attribute on the field.
The Annapolis, Md., native has proven to be one of the top players inside the faceoff circle in the NCAA, helping the Blue Devils average 15.6 draw controls per game, good for 11th-best in the nation.
Duke will need everything it can get from Jenner against a stingy Virginia Tech defense that surrenders only seven goals a contest. The Hokies (6-2, 1-0) have been able to limit the amount of shots that senior goalkeeper Meagh Graham has faced this season. They allow just more than 18 shots per game with a stifling defense that has caused opponents to cough up the ball 17.9 times per game and forced more than half of those miscues.
Offensively, Virginia Tech has been just as strong, as it enters the matchup averaging 15.5 goals per game and has registered at least 18 goals four times this year.
A trio of attackers—senior Kristine Loscalzo, junior Tristan McGinley and sophomore Zan Biedenharn—lead the Hokies up front, and each player has at least 20 tallies on the season. Limiting the potent Virginia Tech offense will be tough for Duke starting goalkeeper Jamie Lockwood, as all three players along with the rest of the attacking unit love to pepper opposing defenses with shot attempts to keep the pressure on.
“We have to be ready to adjust to anything—making on-field switches and stuff like that, knowing what to say on the field to each other in those situations,” All-American defender Maura Schwitter said. “We learned a lot about how to fix [those] things [against Notre Dame].”
The matchup Saturday will serve to determine not just if Kimel’s squad has been able to adjust properly after the loss against the Fighting Irish, but also as a barometer for the character of this year’s team. With just five more ACC games left after this weekend. the Blue Devils know they cannot afford to fall to 0-2 to realistically keep their goals within reach.
“A one-goal game in the ACC is really hard to come back from,” Schwitter said. “Instead of just looking at the coaches and waiting to see what they have to say, [we need to be] able to make those changes by ourselves on the field.”
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