Duke Lacrosse Team Announces Schedule For 2003 Season

Sept. 4, 2002

Duke women's lacrosse coach Kerstin Kimel recently announced the 2003 schedule as well as the captains for upcoming season. The Blue Devils once again tackle a challenging slate that includes eight teams who played in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. Kate Kaiser (Cockeysville, Md.) and Meghan Walters (Wyndmoor, Pa.), who are both returning from injuries that kept them out the entire 2002 season, along with last year's leading scorer Lauren Gallagher (West Chester, Pa.) are set to share captain duties this season.

"Once again, we will look forward to playing one of the nations most challenging schedules and facing the best competition in the country in 2003," said Kimel. "The difficulty of our conference and non-conference schedules always is and will continue to be great preparation for our players as we look to challenge for the 2003 National Championship."

Duke's non-conference schedule includes home contests with 2002 NCAA qualifiers UMBC (Feb. 23), Princeton (March 19) and Notre Dame (April 11) as well as match-ups with Virginia Tech (Feb. 21), William & Mary (March 11), Davidson (April 26) and Dartmouth (May 4). Road games include trips to Johns Hopkins (March 2), Pennsylvania (March 8), Georgetown (March 22), Stanford (March 29), Vanderbilt (April 3) and James Madison (April 23).

The Blue Devils' stiffest competition may come from a group of strong ACC foes. Regarded as one of the top lacrosse conferences in the country, the ACC will again feature a difficult and exciting slate of contests. Duke hosts North Carolina (March 15) in 2003 with road trips to Maryland (Feb. 28) and Virginia (April 6).

The Blue Devils' 2003 schedule can be found online at http://goduke.ocsn.com/sports/w-lacros/sched/duke-w-lacros-sched.html .

"I am pleased that Lauren, Kate and Meg will be our captains this season. All three are phenonmenal players, possess an incredible work ethic and have an incredible desire to see this team get back to the Final Four this season," said Kimel. "They have consistently demonstrated to both their teammates and our coaching staff that they are capable of providing great leadership, both on and off the field I am confident that they will do an outstanding job of leading their teammates to reach our potential this season."

Tri-captain Kate Kaiser, a three-time All-America selection, returns from a torn ACL she suffered last season. She already ranks second at Duke in career goals scored (116) and points (130) with her 50 goals in 2001 falling just four shy of Tricia Martin's single-season scoring mark of 54 goals.

In Kaiser's absense, Gallagher stepped forward to pace the Blue Devils with 38 goals, 11 assists and 49 total points. She also registered a team best .494 shooting percentage, while earning second team All-America honors from Warrior/Inside Lacrosse and Brine IWLCA/USL.

Walters helped anchor the Duke defense during her first two seasons, before missing 2002 with a leg injury. In her career, she has made 27 starts while tallying seven goals and three assists.