Completed Event: Women's Lacrosse at #4 Florida on May 15, 2025 , Loss , 9, to, 11
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Final
Women's Lacrosse
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at #4 Florida
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Q&A With Head Coach Kerstin Kimel
5/13/2009 12:00:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse
DURHAM, N.C. ? Duke women's lacrosse head coach Kerstin Kimel sat down with GoDuke.com to talk about the team's 15-13 overtime win over Virginia in the NCAA Championships first round, and also looks ahead to Saturday's quarterfinal match-up versus the same team, the University of Pennsylvania, that eliminated the Blue Devils from the tournament just a year ago.
GoDuke.com: Without having had the chance to see Penn during the regular-season this year, what do you know about them and what kinds of things do they do well?
Kerstin Kimel: Penn is known for their defense. They play tough, solid, team defense. Their goalie is also really strong. I think their offense is methodical and as a team they are very disciplined. Penn has great overall tram speed, they're scrappy on the draw and in loose ball situations. It will be a great contest between two really good teams.
GD: With 13 players and two coaches from either Pennsylvania or New Jersey, how nice is it to get to travel home for the game?
KK: We're all excited to go home to Philadelphia. When we looked at the possible roads we could have in the tournament, we knew this was one of them and that we could end up going through Philly. Getting to practice at Christie Barnes' high school, then to go to her house for dinner or Thursday night, is really nice. It's exciting for the girls to get to see their family and friends. I imagine we'll see a great crowd on Saturday.
GD: You've said recently that the team is playing its best lacrosse right now. Do you think the team is peaking at the right time?
KK: We've had teams in the past which have peaked too early, peaked too late, so I think the best thing is that this group has progressed well. What's nice to see is that the progress has been very steady. Maybe it was frustrating at times, because sometimes you expect to be further along in different aspects, but the reality is that you're not always where you want to be and once you realize that, you can settle in and focus on fundamentals and the basics being solid before you go forward. Every game this year taught us about ourselves, who we are, and who we want to be, whether it was a win or a loss. I give a lot of credit to our senior leaders for helping this team evolve over the year like we have.”
GD: What was it like getting to face a familiar rival like Virginia in the first round?
KK: We definitely expected to see an ACC team in either the first or second round because of how the Southern teams usually have to fight their way out of their own conferences. We were excited to play Virginia again ? historically we have not played well against in the tournament, so having them come here to our field, we were excited. It's nice to see someone you've seen before, and I'm glad that we got such a tough opponent because I think the tougher your road is, the more you're prepared to win a championship. That's been the case in my own experience as a player and a coach. The fact that we went to overtime was a positive thing, since we hadn't been to overtime yet this year. I can say this now that we've won, but it was really a good experience for us going forward in the tournament.
GD: What is special about this group?
KK: I think our teams in general tend to have a really good time together. This group ? not that this necessarily distinguishes them from other groups ? but they're very invested in how we approach games from a strategic and mental standpoint. Right now the group is so committed and focused on making sure that all parts of what we do are meshing well together. It's almost like having more coaches on the field, since they're constantly giving us more feedback and we can give it to them. They enjoy being together, and are having a good time now that school is finished. They just enjoy being out there each day. Like we say in our office, it's the most wonderful time of the year! This morning, walking into the office with the men's lacrosse staff, it's just a happy environment and a good feeling to know you're still practicing and get another week to play.
Players Mentioned
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