In its last two games, Duke has hit the road for two challenging ACC contests, at No. 16 Virginia and No. 3 North Carolina. Tuesday, the Blue Devils hope they get a bit of a breather as they return to Durham.
The No. 12 Blue Devils (4-1-0) look to bounce back after a tough loss against the Tar Heels when they face UNC-Wilmington Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium.
The last time these two teams met, in 2007, Duke won by an impressive five-goal margin.
The Blue Devils will have to be careful against UNC-Wilmington. The Seahawks return ten members of last year’s starting lineup, including Shawn Guderian, who leads the team with four goals so far this season.
Additionally, UNC-Wilmington (4-1-1) has started the season well. The Seahawks have even beaten UNC-Greensboro earlier this season—the team that Duke lost to in the NCAA Tournament last year.
“[UNC-W players] are very physical, fit and work hard for each other,” head coach John Kerr said. “They are very organized, which makes it very difficult to break them down defensively. It’s not going to be an easy game.”
Duke looks to be more aggressive on offense Tuesday than it was in a loss last weekend. During Friday’s defeat in Chapel Hill, the Blue Devils were outshot 5-0 in the first half, and that statistic ended up 17-5 in North Carolina’s favor for the game.
Duke improved significantly in the second half against the Tar Heels, and Ryan Finley scored the team’s only goal, but the Blue Devils hope to come out strong right away tonight.
“In practice, we talked about starting out as strong as possible,” forward Graham Oxley said. “In the past, we’ve been more of a second-half team, and that’s something we look to change.”
As he looks forward to the rest of the season, Kerr wants the team to capitalize more on offense. The Blue Devils had several late chances to tie the game Friday, but were unable to do so.
“We have to be more positive in the final third [of the field],” Kerr said. “When we cross over the halfway line, we need to know our ideas going forward.”
It will be difficult for Duke to improve on its already stellar defense.
While the Blue Devils struggled to maintain possession against North Carolina, their defense held firm for most of the game. Five games into the season, including two games against top-20 teams Virginia and North Carolina, the Blue Devils have only allowed an average of 0.60 goals per game.
“Defense wins championships,” Kerr said, “We have been preaching a lot of defense for our approach to the season. If we can get the defensive part of our scheme right, I know that we have the offensive firepower to score goals.”
The Blue Devils are heading towards the most difficult part of their season, with more challenging conference matches coming up soon. But first, they will have their hands full with UNC-Wilmington.
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