Going into the weekend, women's soccer coach Bill Hempen knew his team needed a win. But with a 12-game ACC winless streak and No. 7 Wake Forest coming to town, the Magic Eight Ball read: outlook not so good.
As the Blue Devils showed at Koskinen Stadium Friday night, though, the Magic Eight Ball isn't always right.
Freshman Carly Fuller pushed a shot past Wake goalie Beth Klein into the left edge of the goal just 30 seconds into overtime to give Duke (9-6, 1-3 in the ACC) an emotional 3-2 win over the Demon Deacons (9-3, 3-1).
As the shot hit the net, Hempen performed possibly his most impressive athletic feat of the season, as he leapt in the air and sprinted on the field to celebrate with the rest of his team.
"Soccer's a weird game," Hempen said. "We've got six losses and on several of them we felt we were the better team. When that goal went into the net, I was just so happy because I felt we deserved the win."
The Blue Devil offense jumped out of the gates quickly, with sophomore Sarah Pickens finding the back of the net off a direct kick from junior Susan Kraeger to give Duke a 1-0 lead just 2:41 into the contest.
"[That goal] pretty much set the tone in the beginning," senior Sherrill Kester said. "Scoring early is always good for any team in soccer. It lets the other team know that you aren't going to lay down and die; that you are out here to win."
The game remained a stalemate for the final 42 minutes of the opening half, as both teams missed opportunities on goal. Six minutes into the second half of play, however, Wake Forest managed to even the score. Emily Taggart whipped a bullet from 18 yards out into the top corner of the net over the outstretched arms of goalie Isis Dallis, making the count 1-1.
In the 68th minute of the contest, Duke earned its first corner kick of the game. Kraeger's kick curved around to the opposite post, where junior Kasey Truman headed the ball into the net. The perfectly executed corner once again put Duke up by one.
The Demon Deacons had several chances to even the score over the next few minutes. Truman made a spectacular save after Dallis was drawn from the net, kicking away a potential score mere feet from the goal line.
"That was a great track for her," Hempen said. "A lot of players would assume the goalie would handle it, but Kasey went after it.... The kid had an open goal and [Truman] cleared it. That was a key point in the game."
The Blue Devils had their share of opportunities as well to put the game away. Kester missed on two attempts that each slid just to the outside of the post.
With only six minutes left to play, the Blue Devils could almost taste their first ACC victory in a long time. But Wake had other thoughts. Joline Charlton scooted a shot past a diving Dallis to knot the score at 2-2 with just 5:12 left in regulation.
Neither team mounted much of an attack in the closing minutes before overtime. Wake never had a chance in the extra period as the Blue Devils sealed the deal just 30 seconds after the kick-off.
"Going into the overtime, we just did not want to give them any chances," Fuller said. "We knew we needed to get the first shots on goal, and that's what we did."
Statistically, the game was pretty much even, although Duke dominated Wake in shots, 15-8. As far as the Blue Devils are concerned, though, they won the only category that mattered, goals scored.
"This win was important for our team's morale," Kester said. "We now have a lot more confidence. We realized we can beat any team in the ACC if we come out hard like we did Friday night."
Note: The North Carolina game has not been rescheduled yet, but Hempen is hoping to play the match some time this week.
Neal Morgan contributed to this story.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.