For the women's lacrosse team, now is the time to draw a line in the sand.
No. 3 Duke (9-4) faces No. 4 James Madison (11-4) in a game that could very well determine who gets one of the coveted top four seeds, and a first-round bye, in the NCAAs.
Both teams enter the game with serious questions about their play down the stretch, but there is little doubt that each squad is capable of making a deep postseason run.
However, the Blue Devils are not focusing on all of the hype surrounding the NCAA tournament and the seeding process.
"For us, that's not the smartest thing for us to focus on," coach Kerstin Kimel said. "For our team, the most important thing is being prepared to play James Madison."
Although James Madison is ranked in the top five, the Dukes are coming off consecutive two-goal losses, 10-8 to Georgetown and 12-10 to Loyola.
In addition to their late-season slide, they haven't proven they can win close games. The Dukes have only played in three games which were decided by two goals or less, and have lost all three.
James Madison's success has come via its offense, which generally is ignited by midfielder Jess Marion. Marion, a two-time All-American, has been a nightmare for opposing teams, racking up a school-record 53 goals to go along with seven assists.
But Marion hasn't been the only spark on offense, as fellow All-Americans Amy Brew and Julie Martinez join her to form one of the most potent offensive trios in the nation. Brew has 29 goals and five assists, while Martinez has 40 goals and 10 assists.
Despite the seemingly daunting task of trying to stop the trio, the Blue Devils don't plan on introducing any new wrinkles on the defensive end.
"We're not going to do anything special to defend [Marion, Martinez and Brew]," Kimel said. "Our defense has been playing well as unit and we just plan to continue that."
In Duke, the Dukes face a physical, punishing defense that most teams have been ill-prepared for. Duke has allowed just one of its last eight opponents to reach the double-digit mark in goals.
Amy Noble and Meghan Walters have proved that they can shut down their opponents' top attackers, and have stepped up their level of play in big games.
Even if James Madison manages to break through Duke's front line, it will still have to contend with goalkeeper Shannon Chaney, who has been solid between the pipes all season.
The Blue Devils find themselves in a similar position as James Madison. The Blue Devils are coming off a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to North Carolina in the ACC semifinals.
In the North Carolina loss the team failed to score in the last 25:34 of the game. The team's tendency to endure late-game scoring droughts (i.e., Virginia, Maryland) is something that the coaching staff has addressed this week and feels more confident about going into the matchup vs. James Madison.
"We sometimes have a tendency to get scared and try to keep the ball," Kimel said. "Offensively, we need to be creative and do a better job of reading the defenders. The last two days of practice have been great and we have positive momentum going into [James Madison]."
Still, for Duke to be successful, the Blue Devils will have to get some easy opportunities against James Madison's Jennifer Corridini. The goalkeeper was invited to last year's U.S. Lacrosse Squad Trials and is considered to be one of the game's best.
The only question left now is whether the Blue Devils will stand their ground.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.