The coaches of the women's lacrosse team told their team that it had a legitimate shot at beating three-time defending national champion Maryland tomorrow, but they weren't sure that the Blue Devils really believed them.
So head coach Kerstin Kimel asked men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski to explain it to them.
Krzyzewski dropped by lacrosse practice on Tuesday, using inspirational basketball examples such as last Saturday's Carolina game and Christian Laetter's miracle shot to show that any game is always up for grabs.
"He was phenomenal," Kimel said. "Everything he said just reinforced the things that we say. It was perfect, absolutely perfect."
Although the Blue Devils (1-0) are 0-3 all-time against the top-ranked Terrapins (0-0), their attitude this year is different.
"I don't think we've ever felt this way going into Maryland," senior Karen Sutton said. "Before we thought it would be a blowout, but this year we're all calling our friends and telling them to come to the game."
The Blue Devils feel that the difference this year is the seven players that graduated from Maryland's squad last year, leaving the Terps with a nearly brand-new defensive line.
In comparison, Duke fields 10 returning starters and an experienced defense, including Sutton, who has the unenviable job of guarding Terp third-team All-American Cathy Nelson.
The players that Sutton guarded the last two years against Maryland, Sarah Forbes and Kelly Amonte, both won the ACC Female Athlete of the Year Award. Amonte now has a stick named after her.
Duke freshman Courtney Rodgers will guard first-team All-American Sascha Newmarch, the leading candidate for National and ACC Player of the Year.
The Terrapins also field midfielder Kristen Sommar, who last year was the only freshman named to the U.S. National Team, and goalie Alex Kahoe, who is the returning co-ACC Rookie of the Year.
The Blue Devils' young offense will be led by sophomore Tricia Martin, who scored three goals in Duke's 15-0 rout of Denver on Monday.
As a 1993 Maryland graduate, coach Kerstin Kimel also has extra incentives to beat the Terrapins. Assistant coaches Theresa Ingram and Kirsten Kruhm also attended Maryland in the early p'90's, playing under Maryland coach Cindy Timchal. In her seven years there, Timchal has lost only eight games.
"As a coaching staff, it's definately special," Kimel said. "For me personally there's no emotional attachment. We want to beat them just as bad as we want to beat UNC."
Duke tries for number nine in Timchal's loss column at 6 p.m. tomorrow at the Duke Lacrosse Stadium.
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