Games like this aren't scheduled to produce drama.
When the 14th-ranked women's soccer team takes the field for the first time tonight at 6 p.m. at Duke Soccer Stadium, the Blue Devils' focus will not be on unranked Richmond. This contest, like a lot of opening games, is about the team dressed in the home uniform.
"We need to see where we are," Stefanie Kraay said. "We've been beating up on each other long enough. It's time for us to play other teams now. This game will be a good warmup for next weekend [where the Blue Devils travel to Connecticut to face UConn and Rutgers]."
Beating up on each other is right. Already this preseason Duke has lost Snow Brenner, Jamie Parker and Alison Sanders for the year. Last year's ACC Freshman of the Year, goaltender Isis Dallis, was also injured and is out for the first week or two.
Perhaps the biggest concern for Duke is how the team plays together. Last season's seemingly endless list of injuries and a few more this preseason has made coach Bill Hempen change lineups as often as Bill Clinton changes stories. Still, Duke is confident it has the depth to overcome these setbacks.
"We're playing really well right now in scrimmages," Kraay said. "We're playing well together and people are stepping up. Everyone asked to get out there has been doing well."
Replacing Dallis in goal is senior Dana Piper. Piper, who started 22 games her sophomore year, is no stranger to the position and should be solid both tonight and for the remainder of the season.
The Spiders are beginning just their third year of varsity soccer, so while their program is not nearly as developed as Duke's is, the same players have been playing together during the program's first two years. Richmond returns 10 starters for the second consecutive season and boasts eight juniors on its roster.
The biggest weakness in a program so young, however, is a lack of depth. Last season, forwards Krisi Cronk and Brooke Sands were responsible for 53 percent of Richmond's total points. If Duke can stop those two, the Spiders will be left with few other options.
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