WINSTON-SALEM - Another game, another shutout.
This time, though, it came in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
Duke's 1-0 victory over Wake Forest last night in front of a large crowd at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem marked the 12th shutout for the Blue Devils (17-2) this year.
But while the defense took care of the Demon Deacons (11-7-1), the offense embarked on a search for a second goal in the game. Duke's first goal came in the 20th minute, when Noah Lewkowitz crossed the ball in the air to Ali Curtis, who knocked it past Wake goalie Sean Conner.
"We knew coming in that Wake is very strong in the air," Curtis said. "I was really surprised that the ball was able to go through a few defenders."
Duke's goal came on one of only three Blue Devil shots in the first half. Not playing like an unranked team, the Demon Deacons came out strong in the first half against No. 4 Duke. Wake Forest had five shots to the Blue Devils' three and generally controlled the ball in the air.
"From where I sat on the bench, I'd say it was a great battle," coach John Rennie said. "We needed that second goal, but it was just an incredible amount of effort from both teams."
The Demon Deacons were not able to continue their momentum in the second half, as Duke outshot them in the half and controlled play.
"We had them at the back of the ropes," said Vidovich of the first half. "We wish we didn't have a halftime. We were ready to keep going."
Still, Wake Forest left the field feeling that they had just missed an upset.
"The difference between No. 1 and No. 6 in the ACC is a slight one," Wake coach Jay Vidovich said. "We were a little unlucky. We had a couple of opportunities to stick it on in."
Several of those opportunities came late in the second half. With under 10 minutes left, a Wake forward drew goalie Atli Knuttson out of the goal box, but Evan Whitfield stepped in to block the shot and send the ball out-of-bounds. That set up a corner kick, which narrowly missed the goal.
Duke had an opportunity of its own for an easy goal with under two minutes left in the game. Curtis tore down the field on a breakaway but was fouled inside the goal box by Conner. Curtis' penalty shot, however, drifted just right of the goal.
The two teams could have been mirroring the effort they had watched earlier in the day. In the previous games of the tournament, N.C. State took No. 5 Virginia into overtime. But in the overtime period, which is not sudden-death in tournament play, the Cavaliers prevailed 4-0. In the first game of the tournament, No. 5-seeded Maryland bested No. 4-seed North Carolina.
After exhausting games for each team, Duke and Virginia face off tonight in Winston-Salem at 8 p.m.
"Both teams left a lot on the field tonight," Rennie said. "I just hope we have something left for tomorrow."
With this game underway, Rennie is relatively sure that the Blue Devils will have a home berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"We're undefeated in the South Region," Rennie said. "It would be hard to understand why we wouldn't play at home, but there have been things in the past that have been hard to understand."
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