One vs. two-it doesn't get any better than that.
Tomorrow night at 7 p.m., the two top women's lacrosse teams in the nation square off when defending NCAA champion and currently top-ranked Maryland (0-0) travels to Koskinen Stadium to take on No. 2 Duke.
The Blue Devils (1-0), the highest-ranked women's lacrosse team in program history, defeated Syracuse, 16-7, in their season opener. All-American and national player of the year candidate Tricia Martin led the offensive attack against the Orangemen, tying a school record with six goals.
Syracuse was a quality opponent, but Maryland is the best team Duke will face all year.
"This is a marquee matchup for the first time in five years," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "I think that for us, it is very exciting. But our focus is on us and not that it's a marquee matchup."
While the Blue Devils are relative newcomers to the national elite, the Terrapins have long been a fixture at the top of the lacrosse world. Maryland earned the title "Team of the 90s" by winning five consecutive national titles. The Terps capped off the decade with a perfect 21-0 season and a 16-6 victory over Virginia for the NCAA championship.
Success in the near future seems a foregone conclusion since Maryland returns every member from last year, including national player of the year Jen Adams. Adams led the NCAA in scoring last season, tallying 71 goals and 46 assists. Fellow attacker Allison Comito, who scored 106 points last season, gives the Terps another offensive weapon that the Duke defense will have to focus on.
"They have a very prolific offense," Kimel said. "We have to play good individual defense within the confines of good overall team defense. [Maryland's offense] is not complicated. They have a very simple attack, but they take advantages of your weaknesses. They find little openings in your defense and they exploit them."
As highly rated as Maryland's offense is, its defense has been largely overlooked. In the Terrapins' 1999 championship campaign, they allowed an average of only 6.74 goals per game. Senior tri-captain Alex Kahoe returns as netminder after starting every contest since she arrived in College Park four years ago. All told, Maryland returns six All-Americans from last year's squad.
Although their task is daunting, the Blue Devils feel prepared.
"We're ready to play," Kimel said. "For us, the biggest thing is to play Duke lacrosse, and that means being prepared to play from the start, the first whistle. We need to try to control the 50-50 balls, and defensively we need to slow the ball down.
"Winning is not the top priority. If we play our game, the winning will come."
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