Women's lacrosse looks for revenge at ACC tourney

When the women's lacrosse team met Wednesday, head coach Kerstin Kimel wrote the phrase "1-6" on the board. After pausing for a moment, she proceeded to explain that the numbers represent Duke's (11-2, 2-1 in the ACC) all-time ACC tournament record.

"I think everybody was sort of shocked," Kate Kaiser said. "We haven't lived up to our billing."

And with debatably the best team in the program's history, it is precisely this dismal ACC Championship record that the Blue Devils are looking to improve in Charlottesville, Va., this weekend.

The quest begins toady at 3:30 p.m. when second seeded Duke takes on the third seed Cavaliers (11-3, 1-2) on Virginia's home field.

In their last matchup April 6, the Blue Devils defeated Cavaliers 12-7 at the same venue despite losing a pair of offensive threats to red cards in the first half. Lauren Gallagher took over the offense - scoring five times - and Kate Kaiser put four shots in the back of the net before being ejected. The Duke defense also performed impressively, holding the Cavaliers six goals below their season average.

"It gives us confidence," Kimel said. "We have always had a fear of UVa for whatever reason. We also expect a better effort from UVa on Friday."

With both teams winning their only contests following that matchup, the Duke team has spent the past week preparing for a rematch. As opposed to focusing on their opponent, the Blue Devils have been working on things they will need to do for themselves to be successful.

"A lot of the focus this week has been on us and that gives us a lot of confidence," Katie Chrest said. "We know that if we play the game we want to we can come out on top."