2009 Duke Women?s Lacrosse Season Outlook

2/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse

By: Duke Sports Information

See the attached link for a video preview of the season!

DURHAM, N.C. ? The third-ranked Duke women's lacrosse team opens the 2009 season Friday night, Feb. 13, on the road in Denver, Colo., against No. 19 Denver at 7 p.m. EST. The Blue Devils enter the season-opener as the No. 3 team in the Lacrosse Magazine, IWLCA, and Inside Lacrosse preseason polls.

Looking to build on a 2008 campaign that saw Duke finish 13-8 (3-2 ACC) and reach the Final Four for the fourth straight year and fifth in school history, the Blue Devils return nine starters from last season. Additionally, the program welcomes eight freshmen and the 2008 Preseason Player of the Year in senior Caroline Cryer, who missed all of last season with a foot injury after being tabbed the nation's best at the start.

Duke will be led by quad-captains Cryer, Jess Adam, Christina Germinario, and Jessica McBride on the field in 2009.

ATTACK

In addition to the return of Cryer, the Blue Devil attacking unit returns its top five goal-scorers from 2008 in Carolyn Davis (61), Megan Del Monte (41), Lindsay Gilbride (39), Emma Hamm (31), and Sarah Bullard (26). Gilbride, Hamm, and Bullard will largely contribute in the midfield this season as well.

The 2008 season saw the Duke offense net 279 goals in 21 games and post 113 team assists, with the point total of 392 good for eighth-best in the nation.

In 2007, Cryer had led the Blue Devils with a Duke record 71 goals. Despite missing last season, she is already eighth all-time at Duke in career goals (124) and points (167), and seventh in assists (43).

“We're very excited to return our leaders and many of our top scorers from last season, in addition to welcoming Caroline Cryer back into the fold,” said head coach Kerstin Kimel, who is 160-80 in her 13 seasons at Duke. “Offensively, we're very excited about the group overall ? they have a lot of experience and game savvy, and will be instrumental in helping us return as one of the elite offenses in the country.”

Del Monte emerged as a force up front for Duke in 2008, starting 19 of 21 games after primarily coming off the bench her sophomore season. She earned third team All-America honors after leading the Blue Devils in assists with 25 and second in goals with 41.

Adam proved to be a versatile part of the lineup last season, scoring 18 goals but also winning 29 draws for the Blue Devils. She will once again be looked to as a force in the attacking end.

The Blue Devil offense will also be supplemented by sophomore Christie Kaestner, who played in all 21 games last season and saw eight starts. Kaestner will look to have more of an impact this season up top after primarily serving a reserve role last year.

MIDFIELD

The Blue Devil midfield corps brings back most of its contingent from last season. Bullard ? who joins Cryer on the 2009 World Cup team ? brings energy and quickness to the middle, while Danielle Kachulis also return after strong seasons in 2008.

Despite leading the team in goals last season, Davis will largely be counted on in the midfield ? her natural position. In Cryer's absence, she stepped up her game and nearly doubled her goal tally from 2007 to 2008, ending with a team-high 61 goals. She ranked in the top-five in ACC in seven statistical categories, including goals scored (2nd-61), goals-per-game (2nd-2.90), points (3rd-76), points-per-game (3rd-3.62), game-winning goals (T 5th -3), shots (1st-129), and shots-per-game (1st-6.14). To date, Davis has scored in 21 straight games and sits 31st among NCAA Division I active career goal leaders with 134.

Gilbride scored two goals in Duke's 9-8 overtime loss to Penn in last year's semifinals on her way to NCAA All-Tournament honors, wrapping up a season in which she tallied 39 goals and 10 assists for 49 points, while Hamm was named a consensus Rookie of the Year pick and a third team All-America by IWLCA/US Lacrosse after starting all 21 games for Duke as a freshman. She posted a .500 shot percentage as her 31 goals came on 62 shots.

Bullard netted 26 goals a year ago, in addition to winning 24 draws in the midfield and scooping up 32 ground balls, which was second-most among field players.

Kachulis has been a steadying force in the midfield during her time in Durham, starting all 21 games last season and netting 18 goals while causing 11 turnovers and grabbing 16 ground balls.

Also looking to contribute as middies will be freshmen Kat Thomas and Amanda Jones, who will vie for playing time in their rookie seasons, as well as Caroline Spearman and Betsey Sauer. Sauer evolved last season into a strong match-up defender and spent time face-guarding the opposition's toughest scoring threats.

“Our midfield corps is larger than last year ? we have more players to rotate in to give us different looks at different times in the season,” Kimel said. “We are excited about Carolyn returning to the midfield on a steady basis. What people don't realize about Carolyn is that she is one of our best defenders. I'm looking forward to having her more in our offensive and defensive transition games.”

“Then there is the development of Caroline Spearman and Sarah Bullard, who evolved and grew their games. We are excited to welcome Kat Thomas and Kim Wenger to the midfield as freshmen. Kat will be important to us on the draw and will be a great offensive threat as well, while Kim will see time as a defensive midfielder as she has really come on strong in the preseason and should play a big role this year.”

DEFENSE

With the graduation of senior leaders Aiyana Newton, Abigail Meyer, Sarah Kirchhofer, and Allie Johnson in the back, the team will be looking for some other players to step up. The 2008 women's lacrosse squad was able to outscore its opponents by a tally of 279-212, with the Duke defense allowed just 492 shots on the season as compared to the Blue Devils' 604.

The 212 goals allowed by the Duke defense were just seven off the program record.

The trio of Sara Giedgowd, McBride, and Germinario all return with veteran experience as part of the defense this season. Giedgowd started 17 of 21 contests last season as a sophmore, while Germinario started 19 and McBride will look to fill an even bigger role as she saw action in six contests last season. Germinario collected 29 pick-ups last season, third among field players, while winning eight draw controls and causing 16 turnovers. Jillian Heinz will also be in the mix in the defensive scheme.

“Defensively, despite losing [Newton] and Sarah Kirchhofer, players like Sara Giedgowd and Christina Germinario and Betsey Sauer are returning, and saw a lot of action in 2008,” said Kimel. “Additionally, we welcome Jess McBride into the fold, who has been patiently waiting for an opportunity to make an impact for us defensively. She is more ready than ever to go this season.”

“Once again, we feel like we have a lot of depth in this area, with players like Jillian Heinz also in the mix. There is a large group of defenders to rotate in and out of games to give us different looks and allow us to be versatile there.”

GOALKEEPER

The Blue Devils welcome back their starting netminder from last season in senior Kim Imbesi. Imbesi saw her best performances of the season last year when it mattered most, as she turned in a 13-save effort in Duke's 9-7 win over Maryland in the NCAA quarterfinals and made nine stops against Georgetown in the first round, four of which came in the final 1:32 of play.

Imbesi started all 21 contests in 2008, while she ranked second in the ACC with 53 ground balls and was third in save-per-game with 7.24. Imbesi also moved into the lead for minutes played in Duke history, logging 1,238 for her career.

Behind Imbesi, the Blue Devils will work in sophomore Cassi Carley and freshman Mollie Mackler, who joins the squad as a US Lacrosse high school All-America.

“Obviously we're very proud of how Kim's season came along last year as a junior,” said Kimel. “She experienced some highs and lows, but most importantly she came on strong at the end of the season. She has a ton of game experience in all situations, and we look forward to her senior year being her best.”

SCHEDULE

Once again, the Duke women's lacrosse team plays one of the most difficult schedules of any team in the country, not to mention playing in perhaps the toughest conference. Four of the ACC's six schools with women's lacrosse ? Duke, Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina ? were ranked in the top-10 in the polls.

The Blue Devils will face nine currently-ranked teams this season, including seven ranked in the top-10 in the Lacrosse Magazine poll. The tough slate begins with No. 19 Denver to open the regular-season on Feb. 13, followed by a neutral-site contest with California Feb. 15 in what will be the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Returning to Koskinen Stadium for the home opener, Duke hosts Richmond on Feb. 20, followed by William & Mary on Feb. 22. The Blue Devils will open ACC competition with No. 8 Maryland in College Park, Md., on Feb. 28.

Duke's other home games include fifth-ranked Princeton on March 7, No. 12 Vanderbilt on March 11, Virginia Tech on March 18, Canisius on March 20, No. 10 North Carolina on April 17, and No. 14 Dartmouth on May 3 ? the regular-season finale.

On April 3, Duke will tackle four-time defending national champions Northwestern on the road in Evanston, Ill., at 8 p.m. EST. The Wildcats were tabbed the top team in the nation in each of the three polls and will be in search of their fifth consecutive title in 2009.

The 2009 ACC Tournament will be held at Virginia Tech's campus in Blacksburg, Va., April 23-26. The NCAA Tournament will open on May 10, 2009 and the finals are set for May 22-24 at Johnny Unitas Stadium as the event will be hosted by Towson University.

“Duke always takes enormous pride in the quality and competitiveness of our schedule, and 2009 is no different,” said Kimel. “Both our staff and team looks forward to preparing for the challenges we will face both in conference play and outside, and against our traditional rivals.”

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