Nemesis Carolina next up for lacrosse

If there is such thing as momentum in sports, Duke's ninth-ranked lacrosse team has it now.

The Blue Devils are off to a 5-1 start this season. They are riding high on a three-game winning streak, all of the victories having come on the road, two of them over ranked opponents. Their last win came at Navy, where they had not won in over a quarter-century.

And it couldn't have come at a better time, as tonight the Blue Devils travel to Chapel Hill to take on eighth-ranked North Carolina at 8:30 p.m. at UNC's Fetzer Field. The game is the second half of a double-header, the first game pitting Colgate against Dartmouth.

"We've got them at a great time," said Duke head coach Mike Pressler, who has never beaten the Tar Heels during his four-year tenure with the Blue Devils. "So much of athletics is confidence. After going up to Navy and winning that game, we're on a roll. We're playing well. Our guys feel good about themselves."

The Tar Heels, on the other hand, have posted only two victories so far this season. They have suffered losses at Syracuse, at Loyola and, most recently, to Princeton. Their 21-9 victory at home against Dartmouth on Sunday was little consolation for a team that has not lost three of its first five games since 1975.

"They've always been strong at both ends of the field," said Pressler. "But I don't think their as strong as they were last year. They've got some good young players, but they graduated 16 seniors. You don't replace 16 guys in one year."

Included in the group of 16 are six players who last year earned All-ACC honors, as well as six All-Americas.

Where the Heels have been hurt the most by graduation is on defense. Six members of last year's impenetrable fortress are gone, including the twin tower pair of Greg Paradine and Alex Martin. Just as important, perhaps, is the loss of standout goalkeeper Billy Daye.

"The strength of their team is in the midfield," said Joe Kirmser, Duke's sophomore goalkeeper, who has been given the unenviable task of stopping what he estimates will be 100-plus mile per hour shots from the Tar Heel midfield. "Especially Ryan Wade -- he's one of the best, if not the best, in the country, and he's got an incredible shot. They've got four guys in their midfield who can win games for them."

For the younger generation of Blue Devils, like Kirmser, this game is a baptism into big-time college lacrosse. Duke has played three top-20 teams this year, but none with the mystique of Carolina, last year's NCAA runner-up and holder of the last six ACC titles.

"I'm nervous as hell," said Kirmser, comparing the game to a prep school rivalry, the only game experience he has had that even comes close to a UNC-Duke matchup. "But it's a good kind of nervousness -- the kind that makes me want to go out and play."

For this year's Duke seniors, the game has added importance. Like Pressler, they have never known victory over the Tar Heels. They have defeated each of the other two teams in the ACC, but Carolina remains a hurdle they have yet to clear. The closest they have come was two years ago, on a Wednesday night at Fetzer Field, when the Blue Devils fell 9-8.

"Carolina is the only team we play consistently that has beaten us year in and year out," said Fasanaro. "Navy was like that, and we just beat them. We beat Maryland last year, and we've beaten Virginia. Carolina is the only one left."