Over the past two seasons, women's soccer coach Bill Hempen has experimented with a lot of changes trying to reverse the fortunes of the Blue Devils.
Usually the changes involved new strategies or different line-ups, but this week, it's facial hair. Heading into a weekend in which he hosts No. 7 Wake Forest tonight at 7 p.m. and No. 2 North Carolina Sunday at 7 p.m., Hempen is growing a goatee.
"If we're not going to be mean, I've got to look mean," Hempen joked, stroking his graying stubble.
But as odd a sight as the coach makes, it probably won't intimidate the likes of this weekend's foes. And with Duke (8-6, 0-3 in the ACC) mired in a 12-game ACC non-winning streak, this weekend could make Hempen want to skip town incognito, dressed in dark sunglasses and a much more concealing beard.
Duke began its season on a tear, upsetting a pair of top-10 teams in the Blue Devils' first two weeks of the season. But once the ACC season began, so did the trouble. In three ACC matches, Duke has given up 10 goals.
Much of the pressure this weekend will be placed on the Blue Devils' back unit, as both opponents boast talented attacks. Wake Forest (9-2, 3-0) uses three very talented front runners and North Carolina is, well, North Carolina.
To combat the added pressure Wake's attack brings, Hempen is bringing in a fourth defender for the first time all season tonight. The Demon Deacon offense averages 2.2 goals per game, which is a bit scary to Hempen.
"We've been giving up too many goals," the coach said. "We've been giving up two goals a game on average. You can't do that and win. We can't let up more than one goal."
But there is some hope, however faint it may be. North Carolina (11-2, 2-0) has actually done something it's not supposed to do-lose. The Tar Heels have dropped two games in the regular season for the first time since 1982. Even more encouraging is this: The first team to beat UNC this season was none other than Penn State, a team Duke beat 2-1 earlier this year.
The transitive property of sports rarely pans out, but there is reason to have at least a little faith. During UNC's last game, the Tar Heels outshout Dartmouth 34-4, but still needed double overtime to squeak out a 1-0 win.
Even if the North Carolina mystique is fading, the Tar Heels' talent is undeniable. But if Duke could pull out a win-which it hasn't done since 1994-it could certainly save a season that seems destined to be lost.
"[A win] means the world to everyone who plays them," Hempen said. "The stakes are a lot different for us too, because they're Carolina."
But Hempen doesn't want to talk about beating the Tar Heels. He just wants to focus on his team and what needs to be done to have a chance of surviving.
"We need to get the ugliest goal imaginable and make it stand up," Hempen said. "We're going to try to do anything we can possibly do to win. It may not be the prettiest game, but we'll try like hell."
A lot like Hempen's new look.
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