The women's soccer team travels to prestigious Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill tonight, where the No.17 Blue Devils (1-1) will take on 11th-ranked Washington (2-0) in the opening round of the Carolina Nike Classic. Duke will conclude the two-game weekend Sunday against Wofford.
The Huskies will be the third consecutive top-15 team Duke has faced to open up the 2002 season, and mindful of his side's second-round exit in last year's NCAA Tournament-in which the Blue Devils drew No.1-seeded North Carolina-head coach Robbie Church emphasized the importance of tonight's match-up.
"This game is just another great opportunity to get a significant win," he said. "You take those significant wins and you put them in the bank and they come back to you at NCAA selection time. We got one at Tennessee, but we need some more."
Stepping foot on the Tar Heels home turf will be another motivating factor for the Duke women. The Blue Devils will not actually do battle with their archrivals until October 27, but the shadow of the 16-time national champions nonetheless looms large.
"We're trying to step out of that 'stepchild' shadow," Church said. "This team is a brand new team. It [will be] the first time we've taken this group, so we need to make our mark when we go over there."
Freshman Carmen Bognanno brushed off the notion that she or any other of Duke's new additions will feel any pressure with top-ranked North Carolina watching from the stands.
"If you're intimidated you are already a step down," she said.
The Blue Devils hope to make a statement through their revamped offensive attack. In an attempt to develop more scoring chances, Duke changed alignments over the summer, shifting from a defensive 4-4-2 into an aggressive 4-3-3.
Center midfielder Casey McCluskey, whose nine goals in 2001 led the Blue Devils, feels the adjustments are already paying dividends.
"Our lineup is just much more attacking-oriented," the sophomore said. "A lot of our practices are geared towards finding the attacking players, and our system has [completely] changed."
Church cautioned, however, that despite their increased confidence, the Blue Devils still need to work on taking advantage of the increase in scoring chances.
"We've got to score," Church said. "I see us creating opportunities all year, and I think our attack is a lot more lethal then it was last year, but we have to finish."
For the second straight weekend the Blue Devils will be without All-ACC goalie Thora Helgadottir, who is still recovering from a knee sprain. Church expressed confidence, however, in back-up Katie Straka, saying the team is very happy with the sophomore in net, especially after last Friday's victory over Tennessee.
The Huskies will also be without their top netminder, senior Hope Solo. The standout goalkeeper is currently training with the U.S. National team, and will be unavailable for the contest.
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