After routing Notre Dame 17-3 last year, Duke is going to be in for a tough contest against a team that has one important quality the Blue Devils lack—experience.
No. 13 Duke will travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on the No. 10 Fighting Irish Saturday at noon at Arlotta Stadium. The Blue Devils blitzed their way to victory against a young then-No. 16 Virginia squad March 26 and did the same against Boston College April 9, but will have their hands full with a potent Notre Dame offense this weekend. The Fighting Irish rank third in the nation in scoring thanks to 44 goals from junior Cortney Fortunato and 35 from senior Rachel Sexton.
“They’re going to give us everything we can handle,” Duke head coach Kerstin Kimel said. “The good thing is that we know their personnel pretty well…. We know what they like to do, we know what they’re looking for.”
The Blue Devils (9-5, 4-1 in the ACC) reached the Final Four in 2015, only to fall 19-7 to North Carolina and then lose eight seniors, including five of their top six scorers. As part of their march to the season's final weekend, Duke won its second straight contest against Notre Dame in a route after also beating the Fighting Irish 10-8 in the second round of the 2014 NCAA tournament.
But now the tables have been turned. After finishing 11-9 and 10-9 overall its first two years in the ACC, Notre Dame (10-4, 3-3) is thriving this season thanks to a team that returned 10 of its top 11 offensive weapons from a year ago.
After knocking off then-No. 7 Princeton and then-No. 9 Virginia, the Fighting Irish have dropped their last two games and three of their last four. But Notre Dame's high-flying offense has the team's sights set on boosting its resume for a better NCAA tournament seed heading into the postseason.
The Fighting Irish feature five 20-goal scorers and lead the nation in a variety of offensive measures—it is third in goals per game with 15.3, second in assists per game with 8.1 and first in points per game with 23.4. Defensively, they also rank first in the country with 14.7 forced turnovers per game, 3.2 of those giveaways caused by senior Barbara Sullivan.
“Notre Dame’s going to be playing kind of desperately and kind of playing for one of the top four or five seeds in the [NCAA] tournament,” Kimel said. “It’s going to be just as meaningful a game to them as it is to us, given that it’s an ACC game and it’s their Senior Day as well.”
Duke arrives in South Bend ranked second in fewest turnovers per game with 11.1, but the Blue Devils’ greatest strength may be their defense. Duke has limited five of its past six opponents to eight or fewer goals and has surrendered just 7.7 per game.
Due to the turnover from last year, the Blue Devils have had to switch things up on offense throughout the season. Sophomore Kyra Harney has led the way with a team-high 38 goals and has also contributed 14 assists, which ranks fourth on the team. Duke’s last two opponents have faceguarded Harney in an effort to slow her down, and though she managed to score four goals against Boston College, the Blue Devils have adjusted and turned to other options.
Senior midfielder Maddy Acton scored six goals in a loss against Syracuse April 3 and four more against the Eagles. The combination of Acton, Harney, senior Kelci Smesko and sophomore Maddie Crutchfield could spell trouble for Fighting Irish goalkeeper Samantha Giacolone, who ranks 50th in the nation by saving 44.1 percent of opponents' shots.
“We’ve seen a greater variety of defenses than we really ever have,” Kimel said. “Game-to-game, we’re having to adjust the looks that we’re looking for…that’s kind of been the story of our season.”
Senior Kelsey Duryea will again step between the pipes for the Blue Devils Saturday. After earning second-team All-ACC honors in 2015, Duryea has strung together another season worthy of superlatives, saving 53.6 percent of the shots that come her way—the third-best rate in the nation—on her way to 558 career saves, just 10 shy of second place in Blue Devil history.
The Blue Devils may be pressed to tap into their depth this weekend despite spending much of the season playing a relatively short rotation. As the season has worn on, Duke has shown signs of tiredness, like last Saturday when it allowed the Eagles back into the game in the second half before pulling away. But there will be no room for fatigue Saturday as the Blue Devils try to solidify their spot in the upper echelon of the ACC with postseaoson play looming.
“We’re excited to go on the road,” Kimel said. “There’s going to be a lot of emotion and determination on that field Saturday [from both teams].
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