Duke has split the first two games of its season, winning a game on the road but falling at home last weekend to then-No. 9 Notre Dame. This weekend, the No. 8 Blue Devils hope to finally give their fans some cheer and record their first home win when they host Pennsylvania Saturday at 3 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium.
Penn (0-0) will be playing its first game of the season, which will also be the Quakers’ head coach Mike Murphy’s debut at the helm. Murphy, who coached at Haverford College for the last seven years, was a three-year starter at Duke and a captain of the team in 1991.
Duke (1-1) has played two games this season, both against ranked opponents, while Penn has yet to take the field. Head coach John Danowski, however, does not believe the Quakers’ lack of game preparation will make much of a difference against Penn, citing last week’s loss, Notre Dame’s first game, as an example.
This game will be Duke’s last nonconference game before the Blue Devils takes on two ACC foes, playing Maryland in the Konica Minolta Face-off Classic March 6, before taking on North Carolina March 10.
Danowski and his team will not look ahead to those games, however, placing equal importance on all opponents.
“It’s like a test,” he said. “The midterm’s important, then the final’s important.”
Danowski stressed that Duke has to improve upon keeping possession on the offensive end, maintaining a strong defense and instill a presence on the faceoff game.
The Blue Devils will also hope senior attackman Max Quinzani can continue his goal-scoring streak. He has scored at least one goal in the last 48 games, and leads the team with seven tallies this season.
After the loss last weekend, the Blue Devils are eager to go and get the taste of defeat out of their mouths.
“We’d like to think that losing brings you back down to earth a little bit,” Danowski said. “It makes you a little bit edgy and makes you a little bit cranky. And that’s always a good thing.”
Danowski also hopes for other factors to go in Duke’s favor, one being the weather.
“We’d like to see the weather cooperate a little bit,” he said. “It’s cold and kind of nasty.”
But even if it rains or snows Saturday at Koskinen Stadium, Duke should still be able to look forward to its first home win of the year.
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