Kimel Sets 2008 Schedule That Includes Eight Home Dates

DURHAM, N.C. - Head coach Kerstin Kimel and the Duke women's lacrosse team finalized their 2008 schedule today. The schedule includes four exhibition matches and 16 regular season contests.

The Blue Devils will play eight regular season home games, including three home ACC matchups. Seven of their opponents qualified for the 16-team NCAA Tournament in 2007.

On Sunday, Jan. 27, Duke will travel to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., to take on the U.S. Developmental Team and the U.S. Elite Team in the third annual U.S. Lacrosse Champions Challenge. Senior attacker Caroline Cryer plays for the Elite team and junior midfielder Jess Adam is a member of the Developmental squad. The Blue Devils will host an exhibition with England on Sunday, Feb. 9 at 11:00 a.m., and will play in the annual all day South of the Border exhibition tournament on Sunday, Feb. 10 in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Blue Devils open the regular season with Denver at home on Feb. 15 at 6:00 p.m. Highlights of the home slate include Maryland on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 12:00 p.m., Georgetown on Saturday, Mar. 15 at 12:00 p.m., Virginia on Saturday, Mar. 29 at 1:00 p.m., and three-time defending national champion Northwestern on Sunday, Apr. 6 at 1:00 p.m. Both the Maryland and Georgetown games will be the first part of a doubleheader with the Duke men's lacrosse team.

All Duke home contests will be held in Koskinen Stadium and admission is free of charge.

As it did last season, Duke will log thousands of miles in its eight road matches. The Blue Devils first contest away from home is in Dallas, Texas, against Stanford at Southern Methodist University on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 3:00 p.m. ET. Duke's toughest road games include Princeton on Saturday, Mar. 8 at 3:30 p.m., archrival North Carolina on Saturday, Mar. 22 at 1:00 p.m., and Vanderbilt on Sunday, Apr. 20 at 2:00 p.m. ET. A Sunday, May 4 trip to Hanover, N.H., to take on Dartmouth wraps up the regular season for Duke.

The 2007 ACC Tournament will be held in Charlottesville, Va., for the fifth time and first year since 2004. It will be held from Thursday, Apr. 24 through Sunday, Apr. 27.

The NCAA Tournament begins on Sunday, May 11 with first round action at campus sites, continues with quarterfinal rounds at campus sites on Saturday, May 17 and concludes with the semifinals and championship game on Friday, May 23 and Sunday, May 25 at Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md.

The Blue Devils return seven of 12 starters and 23 of 31 letterwinners from a team that reached the Final Four for the fourth time in the program's 12 year history in 2007. That squad finished 16-4 with a 4-1 mark in the ACC, which tied them for the regular season conference title.

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