As the men's lacrosse team wrapped up practice up yesterday, somebody quipped "it's not who the best team is, it's who the best team is between 1 and 3 on Saturday."
Duke fans can only hope that adage holds firm this weekend because Johns Hopkins, the second ranked team in the country, is coming to Durham to play Saturday.
And while Hopkins enters the game with a 6-1 record and a realistic aim of returning to the NCAA title game after finishing second in 2003, Duke is in the midst of a three game losing streak after starting the season with a 3-1 record. Should the Blue Devils (4-4) lose Saturday, their record would fall under .500.
"We are 4-4 right now, and Johns Hopkins is one of the top teams in the country," Duke head coach Mike Pressler said. "We are just going to try to limit what they do and make it a one or two goal game in the fourth quarter. It's the Blue Jays' first trip to Durham since 1951 after we signed a four-year contract last year. We are just going to try to make the most of it."
Face off is set for 1 p.m. at Duke's Koskinen Stadium.
Even though the regular season's end is in sight and playoff scenarios are starting to enter the lacrosse world's conversations and message boards, the NCAA tournament could not be further from Duke's focus at the moment, according to Pressler.
Forget thinking about the playoffs - Duke just wants up to play to its ability for an entire game.
After a big win against then-No. 13 Loyola, the Blue Devils lost consecutive 9-8 games at home to North Carolina and Georgetown, and were handled by No. 8 Ohio State in Columbus last weekend.
"I don't think we have played well since the Carolina game," Pressler said. "There is all this talk about playoff implications right now, but all we are focusing on is playing 60 minutes of Duke lacrosse, which is something we haven't done in a while."
Hopkins, on the other hand, has put itself to a good position to avenge last year's loss in the NCAA title game. Holders of the No. 1 or 2 ranking all season, the Blue Jays beat No. 3 Syracuse and No. 6 Princeton 17-5 and 14-5, respectively, last month.
In addition, Hopkins beat Duke 19-6 last year in Baltimore.
There are kinks in the Blue Jays' pads, however.
Hopkins lost to thus-far underachieving No. 15 Virginia (3-5), the defending NCAA champions, 9-8 in overtime last week in Charlottesville and needed a last-minute goal to get past No. 5 North Carolina last weekend.
All of which hasn't gotten past the notice of Pressler and the Blue Devils. Look for Duke to possess the ball and slow the game.
"We are going to try to make it close," Pressler said. "We know we can't stop all of their big players, but we can hope to contain them."
Hopkins boasts a balanced scoring attack led by four players with 19 points or more this season. Defensively, they start a freshman, Scott Smith, in goal.
Duke is paced offensively by senior attackman Chris Haunss, who leads with 16 goals, and sophomore Dan Flannery and freshmen Matt Danowski, who have a combined 52 points this season.
There is also the face-off factor.
Facing-off has been Duke's biggest weakness all season. A good team hopes to win about 60 percent of them and usually devotes a roster spot or two for face-off specialists.
Duke has won 44 percent thus far this year. In their 9-8 losses to North Carolina and Georgetown, the Blue Devils won just seven of 40 face-offs.
And bad news for Duke, Hopkins has some of the best people in the county in the face-off circle.
Blue Jay junior Kyle Harrison, a second-team All-America last year, has won 64 percent of his face-offs this year and widely regarded as one of the fastest players in the country. Harrison is assisted by sophomore Greg Pyser, who actually is more successful at 75 percent.
"It was a luxury having [since graduated] Kevin Cassese and Devon Wray the last four years," Pressler said. "Saturday, we are just trying to get a spilt."
Saturday's contest also marks the second game Duke will play against a player who transferred from the Blue Devils last season. (Junior attackman Matt Monfett now plays at Loyola.)
Junior attackman Matt Rewkowski was one of Duke's leading scorers in 2003 and is the fourth-leading point-getter for Hopkins in 2004, but Pressler has made no mention of it.
There is a big upset to be had and a season to resurrect.
"We just hope we can make it close at the end of the game and get a big win," Pressler said. "We just want to play a full game to the best of our ability."
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