After a rough four-game start to the season that included two games against teams ranked in the top five in the country, the field hockey team finally returns home tonight to open both its home and ACC schedule.
No. 13 Duke (2-2) hosts Wake Forest (1-3) at 7 p.m. on the East Campus Turf Fields. While the ACC is arguably the toughest conference in the country, with four teams ranked in the top 13, the Demon Deacons are the only team not ranked, making the Blue Devils' conference opener all the more important before they battle the big three, Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland.
"They've improved," coach Liz Tchou said. "Every year they get better and this year they have a very strong team. It's always a battle with them. We bring out the best in each other when we play. I just want us to get better every game and stay in the present."
Duke has to remain in the present, because if it looks back to last season, it would be easy to overlook Wake Forest. Early last October, the Blue Devils trounced the Demon Deacons, 9-1, setting a school record for largest margin of victory in an ACC game.
That's a score that neither team has likely forgotten.
"They're probably going to be all geared up because of the way we beat them last year," defender Trina Santomauro said, "so we're going to have to go out and take care of our own game plan and focus on ourselves."
The Demon Deacons are attempting to bounce back from a disappointing start to the season. Having dropped out of the top 20, the Deacons had hoped to jump into the rankings with an impressive showing against some ranked, non-conference opponents.
But after opening with three straight losses at the hands of Northwestern, American University and Michigan, Wake Forest posted its first win of the season on Sunday with a 5-1 thumping of Virginia Commonwealth. Jenny Everett recorded a hat trick in leading the Demon Deacons to the win.
"All of their players are very skilled, so we have to concentrate on possession and make sure we don't let them get any easy shots from in front of the cage off," Santomauro said.
Santomauro and the defense have buckled down after surrendering seven goals in the opener against Old Dominion. Offensively, Duke has struggled in the first four games to find the back of the cage.
The Blue Devils have scored just three goals thus far but feel they're ready to start breaking out.
"Our offense is definitely beginning to click," said junior Corey Ceccolini, who has scored all three of Duke's goals. "It's just going to come when our consistency begins to even out. People are looking for shots and it's only going to be a matter of time before we start scoring more."
Duke hopes that matter of time comes tonight, as the heart of the season begins in earnest.
"We know Wake is always going to be a battle," Ceccolini said. "We know it's important to get a win under our belt. We really just want to start with a big win to get the momentum going in the right direction. Everybody's so excited that we're finally going to be playing here."
Chris Provost contributed to this story.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.