At this point last season, the women's lacrosse team was training hard to try and improve on a difficult 1997 campaign. Duke was concerned with finishing the season above .500, not even thinking about the postseason. This year, however, the phrases Final Four and National Championship are uttered as realistic possibilities for the Blue Devils.
While Duke surprised everyone last season, posting a 10-7 mark en route to an NCAA tournament invitation, it will be difficult to sneak up on anyone this time around.
"For the first time, these guys aren't underdogs," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "They're expected to do well. Expectations can be both a blessing and a curse. It's great because they're excited that people think they can be so good, but it's also putting a lot of pressure on them."
Duke, a likely choice for preseason top 10, returns 11 starters, including the program's first All-American in junior Tricia Martin, and boasts a highly touted recruiting class of eight freshmen. In short, the Blue Devils will go from being the hunter to the hunted.
"This is probably our most established and most experienced team," said coach Kerstin Kimel. "Right now I am glad it's still preseason because I feel we have a lot to work on. But I do feel like we are on track to have a good start to the season."
Martin, Duke's offensive sparkplug, set school records for goals, assists and points last season. While she will likely carry the offensive burden, she will receive help from her supporting cast in the midfield and on the defensive end.
The midfield has a solid nucleus returning in senior Karen Sutton and sophomores Kate Soulier and Courtney Rodgers. The trio gained a great deal of experience last season, and the midfield may be the most solid position on the team.
The Blue Devils' back line is mostly comprised of veterans. Seniors Megan McLaughlin and Sandy Johnston, as well as juniors Katie Regan and Emily Hickman, have plenty of big games under their belts.
With increasing success on the field comes even more success off the field in recruiting. The Blue Devils have a number of top players coming in this year.
"They don't really play like freshmen, which is great to see," Soulier said. "They go in there aggressively but are open to learning at the same time. I think they will gel very well with the team."
The freshman class will be expected to contribute significantly this season. Kelly Dirks, Fran Gordon and Kate Kaiser, all of whom received numerous honors as high school players, highlight the group of newcomers.
"It's a challenge to incorporate eight new faces into the team," Kimel said. "I think the freshman class could make or break our team this year in that we are going to need them to play and that they will have to have confidence out there."
Due to the impressive freshman class and core of veterans, Duke has more depth this year than it has ever had in the past. This depth will certainly help the team's chances in physical matches, as it will be able to use a long bench and not depend on the same 12 players the entire game.
"I think it's so exciting this year that we are actually going to have depth and be able to rotate some players," Kimel said. "We're not going to just have 10 people on our bench twiddling their thumbs."
Last year, the Blue Devils opened the season 7-1 and reached as high as No. 4 in the polls. But a three-game losing streak, including a 13-3 loss to Virginia, interrupted the team's Cinderella run. They rebounded to make the NCAA tournament but lost to Temple in the opening round.
"This year in big games we will not have that fear of the unknown," Kimel said. "Our sophomores, juniors and seniors are very experienced, and they're not going to go into those games worrying and being afraid."
This year's version of the women's lacrosse team has something last year's lacked: experience. Thanks to a top-notch schedule last season, the Blue Devils are more than ready for the big games this season will provide.
"After playing these big teams, we know what to expect," Soulier said. "They're people just like us, just girls out there practicing too."
Duke has three weeks left of practice before its opener versus Hofstra, and then highly ranked Maryland lies right around the corner. The question last season was if the Blue Devils could get their program headed in the right direction. The question this season will be how they handle the pressure of being expected to win.
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