The story of Duke’s season has been about home cooking.
It was last Friday at home where the Blue Devils convincingly defeated then-No. 2 Maryland 2-0. However, Duke followed up that victory with a disappointing 4-1 road loss to Davidson Tuesday. In their last six games, the Blue Devils have won all three home contests but dropped their three away games.
Duke (7-3-0, 2-2-0 in the ACC) hopes the comfort of Koskinen Stadium will help it bounce back against visiting N.C. State (7-2-1, 1-2-1) tonight at 7 p.m. .
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils are looking to protect a proud unbeaten home record against a highly experienced Wolfpack team, which starts nine seniors.
“It’s going to be a hard game for us,” head coach John Kerr said. “We know all about them, as well as they know all about us.”
While No. 18 N.C. State attempts to keep a three-game winning streak alive, Duke will be looking to shake off its sluggish effort against the Wildcats and recapture its mentality and effort against Maryland.
“Our attitude and approach to the game has got to be more like the Maryland game,” Kerr said. “We’ll be a lot more prepared. You’ll see more of a resemblance to the Maryland game than the Davidson game for sure.”
In its contest against the Wolfpack last year, Duke narrowly lost 2-1, with two goals from N.C. State’s Ronnie Bouemboue. Bouemboue is having a great senior campaign, having already scored five goals this season, while fellow senior Alan Sanchez has notched six assists.
The Blue Devils, however, boost their own offensive threat in freshman Ryan Finley, who also has a five-goal tally for the season.
“We’re prepared,” senior captain Josh Bienenfeld said. “Everyone understands that after Tuesday night’s performance, we have to come out really strong.”
Despite the need to regroup from the team’s first nonconference loss, Bienenfeld believes that this game will not be different from any other.
“Every game is important. We try to approach every game the same way,” Bienenfeld said. “Expect what we’ve been giving this whole season, an extremely hard-working, passionate Duke team.”
Kerr also believes his team is up for the occasion.
“I won’t have to do much talking, believe it or not,” Kerr said. “The players are ready and focused, and we’re looking forward to [tonight’s] game.”
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