Fueled by last weekend's convincing Duke Classic win, the Blue Devils head into what head coach Robbie Church calls "the meat of their schedule" with a chance to finally measure themselves against the best in the country.
No. 10 Duke (8-1) will host No. 15 Boston College (6-1-1) Thursday at 7 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium, marking the start of ACC play for both teams.
The ACC currently boasts six of the nation's top 15 teams, making for arguably the strongest conference in the country. Boston College, with one loss to No. 6 Stanford, is the first of many top-tier opponents the Blue Devils will face.
And after breezing through their non-conference schedule, that's exactly what Duke wants.
"We had a fantastic first part of the season, but this is what everyone came to Duke for-to play in the ACC," Church said. "And we start right off the bat against a nationally ranked team."
With the exception of Notre Dame-who beat the Blue Devils 3-1 Sept. 7-Boston College is expected to be Duke's toughest competition thus far. With 10 returning starters, the Eagles were slated to finish fourth in the ACC preseason poll, two spots ahead of the Blue Devils.
Although only two ACC teams, North Carolina and Florida State, are above Duke in the national poll, the Blue Devils are far from the conference favorites. They still have a whole season to prove their mettle.
And given the two teams' recent matchups, Duke will be tested from its first ACC game.
"If you look back in the history of playing Boston College, we lost three years ago 1-0, we won two years ago 1-0 and we tied last year 1-1," Church said. "You have two nationally ranked teams, and [the Eagles] had a very good preseason. You have got to know that this is going to be a one-goal game."
Duke is an entirely different team than it was in the 2007 regular season. After a run to the NCAA tournament national semifinals, the residual effects of momentum have carried over to the new season.
"We've developed a number of strengths," Church said. "Offensively, obviously, we're scoring a lot of goals-it's the creativity of our midfielders and the finishing ability of our forwards. We're creating opportunities, but we're also doing a really good job of finishing opportunities, and we haven't done that in the last two or three years."
Senior forward Lorraine Quinn, who earned numerous National Player of the Week honors and the ACC Player of the Week for her first-half hat trick against Georgia Sunday, attributes the team's recent success to communication.
"Our chemistry, the way we're connecting right now, is phenomenal," Quinn said. "If we keep that up, if we keep communicating, we can play with anyone in the country."
She and her teammates are eager to put that preseason poll to shame.
"We prepare all year for the ACC games to start," Quinn said. "We're going to be playing against some of the best teams in the country. Every game is going to be a hard-fought game, but we're really looking forward to it. We have a chance to prove ourselves."
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