Duke may be headed down to Disney World for the ACC tournament, but you won't find the team in line for Splash Mountain this week. The Blue Devils have to rebound quickly so they don't get soaked by the competition. Luckily, they have the perfect solution to their recent disappointment-short-term memory loss.
"One thing you have to have in the ACC is a short-term memory," head coach Robbie Church said. "It is always a national-ranked team right behind the one that you had, so win or lose, you have got to really be ready to go the next day."
Duke (8-4-6, 3-3-4 in the ACC) will try to forget last Saturday's disappointing 1-0 loss to Clemson as it prepares to take on No. 18 Wake Forest (11-5-3, 6-2-2), the second seed in the conference tournament. The Blue Devils enter as the number seven seed, but Church believes his team can string together three good games and make a run for the conference crown.
Duke has seen the Demon Deacons before, as the two teams played to a 1-1 draw October 18th . In that game, sophomore midfielder C.J. Ludemann came to the rescue with a game-tying tally late in the second half. Church is confident that this time the outcome will be more favorable for the Blue Devils.
"The first part of the match we played at Wake Forest we did not play to the level that we are capable of playing," Church said. "Wake Forest is very much of a rhythm team, and from a defensive standpoint we have to do a better job of putting pressure on the ball."
In order to successfully keep the Demon Deacons' offense at bay, Duke will have to communicate better as a team, something junior Lorraine Quinn said the Blue Devils struggled with against Clemson.
"We were kind of on different pages of pressure where some people were pressuring and some people weren't," Quinn said.
Duke will not need any extra motivation to pick up the level of play this week. Everyone on the team is well aware of the fact that a loss could end their season. Quinn said the Blue Devils know that nothing is guaranteed and that they will be playing like a desperate team fighting to keep their season alive.
Even though Duke made the NCAA tournament last year with more losses than they have this year, Church feels like the team needs another win or two to guarantee them a spot in the tournament.
He also said the freshmen on the team should be better prepared for the style of play they would see down in Florida after the Clemson game Saturday night.
"They all looked a little shell-shocked, and I think they got a preview of what the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament are going to be like," Church said after the game. "The level goes up, and I think we had a hard time staying with that.. We have to be that team playing with a sense of urgency."
The competition looks to be fierce-the Blue Devils only earned a victory in the regular season against one of the seven teams in the tournament-but with a little bit of magic, the team should be able to make its dreams come true.
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