Duke women's soccer shows grit in 1-0 shutout win at Wake Forest to stay atop ACC standings

In the span of two minutes in the first half, Duke and Wake Forest both found open looks in front of the goal with no defenders left to beat.

But the Demon Deacons’ shot rattled off the crossbar, and the Blue Devils’ found the back of the net, keeping Duke unbeaten in ACC play. 

The No. 9 Blue Devils held on for a 1-0 victory Thursday night at Spry Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C., to move to 4-0-1 in the ACC and stay atop the league standings. Duke played without three starters—senior Rebecca Quinn and sophomore Kayla McCoy are out for the year and sophomore Taylor Racioppi has a lower-leg injury—but an Imani Dorsey goal in the 19th minute made the difference as the Blue Devil defense recorded its fourth straight shutout.

“If we need to grind it out, we can grind it out,” Duke head coach Robbie Church said. “We learned that this team can win a couple different ways, not just playing a pretty game of passing around.”

Senior All-American Christina Gibbons set up the Dorsey goal, running a give-and-go on the left side of the box before the Wake Forest defense stole the ball. But Gibbons quickly recovered possession and slid a leading pass in front of the goal to Dorsey, who tapped it in for her sixth goal of the year—tied for most on the team.

Dorsey also ripped a shot from outside the box with two minutes left to play in the half, though Demon Deacon goalkeeper Lindsay Preston stopped it to keep her team within one. Thursday marked another strong performance from Dorsey after the junior scored twice against Virginia Tech Sept. 25. 

Gibbons’ assist was her third in her last two games—she has played midfield at different times this year and started the past two contests with Racioppi out. Shortly after the goal, Church moved Gibbons back to defense, where the co-captain preserved the lead.

“She can play anywhere,” Church said. “She ran a lot. She beat her player, she drew the defenders over and played a cross for Imani to touch it in. Really an open goal, far side.”

Wake Forest’s best scoring chance came in the 17th minute, when the Blue Devil defense failed to clear the ball. The Demon Deacons (8-5, 0-5 in the ACC) beat two defenders, setting up sophomore Peyton Perea for an open look in the box. But her shot hit the right corner of the crossbar before Duke cleared the ball away.

The loss was a deflating blow for Wake Forest, which was already on the NCAA tournament bubble and badly needed a win Thursday night. 

The Blue Devils (9-2-2) relied on shots close to the net rather than taking more from outside the box to put more pressure on Preston. The Demon Deacons outshot Duke 10-9, but the Blue Devils held a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.

“Our players have done a good job of getting wide and isolating players wide, and then running out, too,” Church said.

Freshman Ella Stevens set up what was nearly a second goal for Duke in the 54th minute on a counterattack. The Grayson, Ga., native held the ball for two teammates to catch up, then sent a through ball into the box right to a surging Toni Payne. Payne almost got by Preston, but before she could take a second touch, Preston slid and deflected the ball away to end the scoring chance.

Preston made five saves to keep her team close, but Blue Devil junior goalkeeper E.J. Proctor came up with four of her own to record her 17th career shutout, the fourth-best total in program history. 

Duke will look for a fourth straight victory Sunday evening at N.C. State, a team Church has defeated in all 15 matchups since joining the Blue Devil staff in 2001.

“They were absolutely desperate,” Church said of Wake Forest. “[It] was one of the best team wins we’ve had all year.”