The field hockey team is ready to stick it to somebody. The question is, who will that somebody be?
The Blue Devils have two chances to name their first top-20 victim of the season this weekend as they host ninth-ranked James Madison on Saturday followed by No. 13 Northeastern Sunday. It will be Duke's second consecutive weekend facing a pair of top-15 teams.
The preseason polls listed the Blue Devils at No. 9, but after a couple of 2-1 losses to unranked squads, Duke dropped all the way out of the top 20. Last weekend, however, the Blue Devils looked like they belonged somewhere back in the top 10.
Duke had an incredibly solid performance against top-ranked North Carolina but was never able to mount much of an offensive attack in its 1-0 loss.
Then when No. 7 Temple visited Duke the following day, the Blue Devils came back with an offensive onslaught but simply couldn't capitalize on scoring chances. Duke's defense, however, was impenetrable, and the game headed into overtime before Temple squeezed out what would be another 1-0 defeat for the Blue Devils.
Although they came away with a pair of losses and fell to 2-4 on the season, the Duke players learned an important lesson. They may not be nationally ranked, but they certainly have the talent to play with the nation's best.
Over the past two weekends Duke has developed a pattern. Duke first travelled to Virginia and took home a pair of 2-1 losses. Then last weekend left the Blue Devils with a couple of 1-0 defeats. The outcome from Duke's first game tends to repeat itself each weekend.
Without a doubt, the Blue Devils hope to perpetuate that pattern. Only first they have to transform pairs of weekend losses into victories.
"[Winning now] is important," head coach Jacki Silar said. "In order for us to fulfill our goals this year we need to start winning this weekend."
A first possible step toward getting back on the winning track is completely out of Duke's control. That step involves getting senior Lisa Ehrhart and sophomore Tamara Gehris, both starters and keys to the Blue Devil penalty corner unit, back in the lineup. Both players have been out with injuries since Duke's last win, a 4-0 romp over Davidson last week.
Ehrhart is suffering from a bizarre ankle sprain, and although her status is day-to-day, she is unlikely to be ready by this weekend. Gehris pulled her quadriceps muscle against Davidson, but will probably be back on the field Saturday.
One of Duke's strongest offensive weapons is its penalty corner unit. So far this season, the Blue Devils have collected nearly half of their goals on penalty corner opportunities.
But Ehrhart is Duke's first choice to take the corner, and when she's not in the game, Gehris does the job. With both players out of the lineup, Duke failed to produce anything with 14 penalty corner opportunities against Temple last weekend.
The Blue Devils are hesitant to put all the blame for their lack of scoring on missed penalty corner chances. In Duke's four losses this season, it has given up just six goals. The problem is the Blue Devils have only managed to score twice themselves, and it's not from a lack of opportunity.
"[The players] are frustrated because with so many scoring chances [we should have more goals]," Silar said. "Our scorers are frustrated, but now they have to release [their frustration] in the proper manner against JMU and Northeastern."
As the season progresses, the Blue Devils will continue to iron out their problems and solidify their teamwork. But their schedule never really lets up. They have six more top-20 teams left to play after this weekend's competition.
In the meantime, wins and losses are all Duke has left to prove that last year's first-ever bid to the NCAA postseason tournament was no fluke. So look for a fired up field hockey squad that's ready to prove it can not only hang with the best, but it can beat them, too.
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