Facing two top-10 teams in the country on consecutive days is never easy. Doing so without four of your best players is a completely different story.
Duke will be doing just that this weekend as Katie Grant, Cara-Lynn Lopresti, Hilary Linton and Amy Stopford compete in the Women's Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile, which began Sept. 14 and will continue through Sept. 25.
While Grant, Lopresti and Stopford play for Team USA, Linton, a Canadian native, will represent her home country.
Any team would be thrilled to have four players chosen to World Cup teams, but the timing could have been better as No. 4 Duke (4-1) plays host to 10th-ranked Iowa (5-2) Saturday and ninth-ranked Old Dominion (3-3) Sunday.
Head coach Beth Bozman said she does not believe that the Blue Devils will have a large drop-off because the team simulated life without the big four during its spring practices.
"We did well then, and I think we've got a good team," Bozman said of the team's performance in the spring. "We have a lot of depth at a lot of positions, and we feel very confident going into this weekend."
The NCAA's highest-scoring offense will look for a new leader without Grant, who has a team-best six goals. The forward is sixth in the nation in points despite having played fewer games than many of those ahead of her.
"The personnel is definitely different," defender Kirsten Bostrom said. "They are four of our key players but our style is still going to be the same."
Having received her masters and served as a graduate assistant at Old Dominion in 1981, Bozman said she still thinks very highly of the institution.
"I'm very loyal to Old Dominion and think a lot of Beth Anders," Bozman said of the ODU head coach. "She is a good friend of mine."
The Blue Devils have had recent success against the Monarchs, winning the last five meetings, including last year's 5-3 victory over Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
The winning streak marks an important turnaround for the Duke field hockey program. Prior to 1999 the team was 0-12 against Old Dominion. Bozman, nevertheless, does not believe that the team's recent success will impact Saturday's game.
"I don't think anybody has Old Dominion's number," Bozman said. "I just think we played them really well in those games and we have a lot of talent and just put it all together."
Like the Blue Devils, Iowa will also be playing shorthanded when they come to Duke because of the Women's Junior World Cup. Hawkeyes Caroline Blaum, Lauren Pfeiffer, Kadi Sickel and Heather Schnepf will all represent Team USA.
Despite having never played Iowa while at Duke, Bozman believes that she knows the team well.
"They are a Big Ten team," Bozman said. "Big Ten teams tend to play similar styles. I am actually pretty familiar with the team."
Iowa has won five straight games after consecutive losses to No. 1 Wake Forest and No. 3 North Carolina to open the year. The team boasts the 13th leading scorer in the country in Debbie Birrell and the Hawkeye's goalie, Lissa Munley, ranks 20th in the country in goals allowed average.
The Blue Devils are coming off their Sept. 10 loss against top-ranked and three-time defending national champion Wake Forest.
"The intensity is higher now," Bostrom said. "I think there is more urgency that every practice really matters."
Action begins 1 p.m. Saturday against Iowa and continues Sunday at 1:30 p.m. against Old Dominion. Both games will be played at Williams Field on East Campus.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.