The women's soccer team hits the road again this weekend--racking up frequent flier miles and, hopefully, two more victories.
The No. 8 Blue Devils travel to Portland, Ore., to compete in the Portland Tournament. The squad opens with a contest against Washington at 12:15 p.m. on Saturday, and follows that with a game against No. 6 Portland at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday.
It will be Duke's first action after a disappointing weekend at the Southern Methodist University tournament in Dallas, where the team lost to No. 4 SMU 4-3 in overtime last Friday, but came back to beat Texas A&M 2-1 last Sunday. Blue Devil head coach Bill Hempen is hoping to go into the upcoming games with more intensity on the field.
Hempen feels that the team is still trying to find itself, so he plans to experiment with some changes this upcoming weekend.
"Our defense is good but we gave up four goals," Hempen said. "The team has to make the game more personal and increase the intensity level and keep the level high for the full 90 minutes of play."
This is the Blue Devils' first journey to Portland and the team's first encounter with the Pilots. Duke enters the tournament with a 0-1 series record against Washington.
In the past, Portland has proven to be a powerhouse team--it has been to several final fours and has consistently been ranked in the top 10. The Pilots' overall record so far is 4-0-1, and they have scored 35 goals in five games, beating their opponents by an average of 7.5 goals.
Duke has a 3-1 record overall and is 1-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Brilliant play is expected from senior captain Kelly Walbert and sophomore Andi Melde, who have led the team in scoring in the past, and senior Melissa Carr, who leads the team in saves. Walbert, a three-year veteran of the Blue Devil squad, leads the team in goals so far with five--which adds to her career record of 33. Walbert also leads the team with 16 career assists and has already added one more to that total this season.
Melde has started the season off with determination. She is second in goals this season with two, and she scored the winning goal against Texas A&M. Carr has started the season off with 11 saves and has a goals against average of 1.50.
According to Hempen, after winning the first two games fairly easily, the Blue Devils built up a false sense of security going into the SMU Tournament. In the future, they hope to do better against quality opponents.
Duke hopes to comes back Sunday night with a 6-1 record and with a better competitive edge for the rest of the season.
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