Duke knows what it's like to be the top team in the country. Now, the Blue Devils are looking to play the role of spoiler-and, in the process, kick off a homestretch in a big way.
No. 8 Duke (8-3, 1-1 in the ACC) will try to carry its pre-bye momentum over to its first game in two weeks, a matchup with No. 1 Virginia (12-0, 2-0) Saturday at 4 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.
"Anytime you can play the No. 1 team in the country [and] they're undefeated, it's awesome because it gives you an opportunity to take them down," senior attackman Ned Crotty said. "So far, they've had a bunch of good games and they've played well, but I think it's definitely doable."
The Blue Devils certainly have reason to be confident. Prior to last weekend's open date, they had won six of their past seven games.
And thanks to the bye, Duke was able to recover from any lingering injuries and also had extra time to prepare for its final conference game before the ACC tournament at the end of the month.
"I think [the bye] is a positive," senior midfielder Brad Ross said. "We were playing well the last couple games, but this is a good time for people to get healthy and get in shape."
The biggest advantage of the extra week may have been the opportunity it gave the team to focus on itself rather than an upcoming opponent. Compared to previous Blue Devil teams, this squad is short on experience. And while head coach John Danowski has said that it's difficult to simulate game-level action in practice, having a contest every week has kept Duke occupied with opponents' tactics.
Thanks to the bye, that finally changed.
"That whole last week we were able to focus on ourselves, do what we need to do and just not even think about anybody else," Crotty said. "It gave us a chance to look at ourselves, see what we can do, improve and realize how far we've come and how much we've changed, looking at our first game and our Dartmouth game.... It's definitely a confidence boost going into this weekend."
Despite its undefeated record, Virginia hasn't proved invincible. It won its last three games by one goal each, including a seven-overtime marathon against Maryland March 28 and a come-from-behind victory over North Carolina last weekend. The Tar Heels had a 7-3 lead before the Cavaliers charged back and hung on for the victory.
"It's three weeks in a row," Crotty said. "It's Hopkins, close game, Maryland, seven overtimes, UNC, just at the end of regulation, they just held on. So it's almost like you're thinking it's coming. It's almost destined to happen soon."
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