The Blue Devils learned in practice this week that simply defeating a highly-ranked opponent is not sufficient to meet head coach Kerstin Kimel's expectations of her team. After No. 2 Duke's 9-7 win against No. 5 Maryland Feb. 25, Kimel was furious with many aspects of her team's play.
"I think that even though we were happy to have an ACC win, overall, we weren't satisfied with our performance," Kimel said. "I think what we are trying to do is focus on raising our level of play and improving our execution this week heading into Duquesne."
After the Maryland game, the Blue Devils' schedule afforded them with a week of uninterrupted practice. Duke (3-0) used the time away from competition to break down its style of play and work on its game preparation before taking on Duquesne (2-1) at Koskinen Stadium 11 a.m. Saturday.
On the Monday and Tuesday following the win over the Terrapins, Kimel focused on smaller aspects of Duke's performance when breaking down film with the team. She augmented the video work with drills targeted to specific areas. On Wednesday, Kimel increased the intensity of practice, making it more physical. Finally, on Thursday, the Blue Devils worked on the strategic and tactical parts of their game in preparation for Duquesne.
"I think practice has been more intense this week," sophomore midfielder Rachel Sanford said. "We moved down to Field Four to practice on grass. We are off the turf. We are having a whole new practice dynamic. We've been working a lot on fast break and running the ball up quickly and making good decisions with the ball, especially in the midfield."
Because of their speed, the Blue Devil midfielders are instrumental in jumpstarting the team's transition attack-a vital component in Duke's offense early in the game. So far this season, leading scorer Katie Chrest Duke has been helped by Sanford, who tallied three goals against the Terrapins and freshman midfielder Carolyn Davis, who has been a welcome addition with six goals and four assists this season.
"I can have good games because I'm pretty fast and other teams are pressuring Katie so much," Davis said. "They aren't expecting much from me, so, in situations like that, I'm going to have to step up."
Against the Terrapins, the Blue Devils fell behind 4-1 in the first ten minutes of the game before coming back to win. After cruising to double digit wins in its first two games against Longwood and Richmond, Kimel said her team came out flat against Maryland, not ready to play at the level required to beat a team like the Terrapins.
"I think that it was how we came into the game," Kimel said. "I don't feel like we were altogether there for the game. We certainly worked hard and were physically prepared to play Maryland, but we didn't see in tune with each other."
The mental mistakes for Duke were evident in the costly turnovers and fouls that led to goals for the Terrapins.
"I think we started the game a little flat," Sanford said. "I think our decision-making all across the field was not the strongest. We had some stupid turnovers and unnecessary fouls that turned into goals, and we didn't capitalize on our fast breaks as well as we should have."
The Blue Devils will have an opportunity to improve on last week's performance and hone their skills against a weaker Duquesne opponent, which Duke has defeated 12-3 and 16-4 in their meetings over the last two seasons.
"We have played them for a couple of years now," Kimel said. "We like playing against them because they will give us a really good fight and that's what you want. You want teams that are going to compete with you for 60 minutes."
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