Now the real challenge begins.
After an upset victory over then-second-ranked Old Dominion, the field hockey team has thrust itself into the national limelight.
"Some people say it's a fluke," said coach Liz Tchou, "but they did a good job, and when we play together we can beat anybody."
The Blue Devils will get their first chance to follow up the victory this weekend when they face Big East opponents Temple Saturday and UMass Sunday. Both games will start at 1 p.m. at Williams Field.
Temple and UMass are both coming off loses to top-10 programs Penn State and James Madison and should be ready for the Blue Devils this weekend. Following Duke's upset win, Tchou is hoping her team will not be caught off guard.
"Practice this weekend has been interesting," the coach said. "We've been working hard to avoid the natural letdown that comes after such a big victory."
Both opponents promise to
Duke was originally billed on its offense, but it had been struggling recently to score. However, between a 9-0 shutout of Appalachian State and the victory against the Monarchs, the Blue Devils' offense appears to be recharged.
Duke was led by Corey Ceccolini's three goals, a feat that netted her both ACC co-player of the week and HockeyPoint's Division I player of the week honors.
"Teams are going to start keying in on Corey, but we'll be ready for that," Tchou said. "We didn't take a lot of shots last weekend, but overall our attack was better than it has been."
The Blue Devils plan to continue playing their offense-oriented game but realize they'll once again need stellar defense this weekend. Duke has been practicing giving up less shots and less penalty corners.
"Teams will now be gunning for us, so we must sharpen our skills," Tchou said. "Everyone has been picking it up in practice, especially Moe [Denney], Jen [Moore] and Courtney [Sommer]."
The Blue Devils are always looking to improve their game-against the Monarchs they were outshot 21-4, but they still managed to pull out the victory.
The Minutemen, especially, promise to be a challenge for the Blue Devils. Despite a losing record of 2-3, they are currently ranked 19th in the country. Their last loss was by just one goal to eighth-ranked James Madison.
"This weekend will really be important for us," Tchou said. "We need to prove that last weekend was not a fluke.
"Last week they were great. We collectively followed the game plan and played aggressive, pressure defense. We may still have some stuff to work on, but if we can continue doing that, we're taking the right step toward our goals."
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