A lot has changed for the Blue Devils since the 1997 season.
The women’s lacrosse program was just two years in the making, and head coach Kerstin Kimel had yet to earn an ACC tournament championship, four regular-season conference titles, seven national semifinal and 19 straight NCAA tournament appearances—all of which morphed Duke into an ACC powerhouse.
That year also marked the last time the Blue Devils had not won a conference matchup this late into the season, and that squad failed to win a single ACC contest all year.
With just two regular-season conference games remaining, this year’s Duke team is desperate to avoid suffering the same fate as it did 20 years ago. The Blue Devils will travel to Newton, Mass., to take on No. 14 Boston College at Newton Field Saturday at 1 p.m. The Eagles have won four of their last five games, with their sole loss during that span coming in a close contest against then-No. 2 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C.
To mount the upset and finally notch a first ACC win, Duke will need to play some of its best lacrosse of the season.
“Our best game, or our really good game, is good enough to win in the ACC, but unfortunately that’s escaped us a little bit this year,” Kimel said. “There’s no hiding the fact that there’s pressure, but our day-to-day focus in practice is that we need to play well.”
Although the Blue Devils (6-6, 0-5 in the ACC) lost five of six contests in a one-month span and dropped from the rankings for the first time since 2011, they have shown marked improvement in their two most recent performances. Thanks to the heroics of junior All-American Maddie Crutchfield, Duke halted a two-game skid with a last-minute 10-9 upset against then-No. 16 Elon March 29.
The mid-week victory invigorated the Blue Devils, who entered their next contest with newfound confidence. Anchored by a staunch defensive effort, Duke mounted a furious upset bid against No. 11 Syracuse Sunday afternoon. Although the Blue Devils managed to knot the score with just more than 24 minutes to play, the efficient Orange attack slipped two straight goals past freshman net-minder Gabbe Cadoux—who recorded 10 saves in her second consecutive start—to take the lead for good.
“Coming from where we were against Penn and Virginia, we were in a really bad place as a team,” Kimel said. “Last week was obviously progress. We won a really tough one-goal game, and then we lost a tough one-goal game that we know we could have won.”
Part of Duke's resurgence has been a product of recent strides from their rookie players. Aside from Cadoux’s recent strong showings between the pipes, classmates and Summit, N.J., natives Catherine Cordrey and Callie Humphrey have both made their mark in the midfield. Cordrey has found the back of the net in each of the Blue Devils' last five contests and averages 1.9 points per game, with Humphrey ranking second on the team with 13 caused turnovers on the season.
The freshmen will need to be firing on all cylinders Saturday in order to compete with a veteran Boston College roster. Seniors Kate Weeks and Kayla O’Connor spearhead the Eagle offensive effort, combining for 82 goals and 104 points on the season. Sophomore Sam Apuzzo leads the ACC in points with 5.1 points per game, and Weeks ranks second in the conference in points and scoring with 4.4 points and 3.6 goals per contest.
“Historically, Boston College is a team that scores a lot but they give up a lot,” Kimel said. “Even if you look at this season, they’ve scored a lot of goals, but they’ve given up a lot of goals. That’s certainly an opportunity for us.”
Although Duke sophomore Olivia Jenner has become accustomed to dominating the draw circle, Boston College (10-4, 2-3) ranks second in the ACC and seventh nationally in draw controls with 15.4 per game. The Blue Devils will need to continue including other players in the draw effort, such as Crutchfield and senior defender Maura Schwitter, who have complemented Jenner’s 67 draw controls on the season with a combined 60 of their own.
Duke may see success in limiting the Eagles’ ability to capitalize on extra possessions they earn on the draw, though. The Blue Devils rank third in the ACC at 9.6 caused turnovers per contest and Boston College ranks just sixth in the conference with 16.6 turnovers per game. Duke’s defense, which played well as a unit in its last two contests, will look to pressure Weeks, O’Connor and Apuzzo into committing stick-handling errors and turnovers to give the Blue Devils an advantage in possession.
“My impression at the time was that our defense was really solid, and I still feel that way,” Kimel said. “We played our goal well the last two games. Defense is where we’re the most veteran and we’re the most solid… so the big focus last week for both Elon and Syracuse was team defense.”
With just three more contests and one conference matchup remaining on its schedule after Saturday’s game, Duke has limited opportunities to prove itself worthy of one of the 26 NCAA tournament spots.
A win against a ranked ACC opponent may be just what the Blue Devils need to turn their season around and punch a ticket to the tournament for the 20th straight season.
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