Men's soccer ties Wake Forest, remains unbeaten

WINSTON-SALEM - As his teammates packed up their gear and left the field, Ali Curtis sat on the end of the bench, visibly upset and all alone.

Although soccer fans were treated to a great game between two unbeatens, Curtis' face told the story from the Blue Devil perspective. It was a look of dejection.

No. 2 Duke (6-0-3, 2-0-2 in the ACC) tied 7th-ranked Wake Forest 1-1 in double overtime last night at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem. The tie, however, did not please the Blue Devils. Before yesterday, the Demon Deacons (8-0-4, 1-0-2) had lost eight straight games to the Blue Devils, last winning in 1992.

"We didn't play as well as we should have," Curtis said. "Wake Forest is a good team and they came out ready to play. It was just one of those days. You're not always going to play your best."

The Demon Deacons' defense shut down Duke's offense for most of the night, outshooting the Blue Devils 13-6 in regulation. In the first half, most of the game was played on Duke's side of the field and the Blue Devils only mustered one shot in the stanza.

It was a particularly frustrating night for Curtis, who only took one shot all game. Wake defender Chad Evans was primarily responsible for the blanketing, though Curtis drew frequent double teams.

"Chad's a great player," Curtis said. "I give him all the credit in the world. He's a very good player and he did a great job tonight."

Although Duke's first half opportunities were few and far between, it was the Blue Devils who struck first. On a Blue Devil free kick, Stephen Pate kicked a beautiful pass to Ryan Furgurson, who was able to redirect the ball into the right corner of the net. It was Duke's only shot of the half, but it still carried a 1-0 lead into halftime.

But perhaps the best scoring opportunity of the night was missed by Wake Forest with 26 minutes left in regulation. Ben Stafford got the ball and dribbled right, firing a shot at the goal. Duke keeper Jeff Haywood lunged to his right, punched the ball off the left post and out of the net. It was the most spectacular of Haywood's eight saves and may have saved the game for the Blue Devils.

In the first overtime, most of the action took place at midfield and neither team took a shot. In the second 15-minute period of sudden death, the Demon Deacons appeared tired, but Duke could not find a game-winning goal.

As a result, Duke recorded its third disappointing tie of the season.

"[Wake Forest] took their absolute best shot," Rennie said. "They threw everything they've got at us. It was a great effort and a great game.... We just didn't finish all of our chances."