While the season so far has been unlucky and disheartening, Duke seniors Kasey Truman, Sarah Pickens, Alison Sanders, Katie Heaps, Crystal Pressley and Stephanie Kraay were all able to step off the field at Koskinen Stadium for the last time with smiles on their faces and a big victory in their hands.
Saturday night, the womens' soccer team (7-8, 2-5 in the ACC) shutout No. 19 Wake Forest (8-6-1, 3-3) 2-0 in its last ACC conference match of the season.
The Blue Devils, who were 0-5 in the ACC before this week, had a lot at stake in the N.C. State and Wake Forest games. Wednesday night ended with a 1-0 win against the Wolfpack. Then, Saturday night provided Duke with not only another shutout win and a better chance to get into the NCAA tournament, but also a lot more confidence.
Junior defender Rebecca Smith was excited about the win and believed that it was a necessary victory in order to get into the NCAA tournament.
"We needed it to get into the NCAAÉ. I feel pretty confident that we can finish off the season well now," Smith said.
Truman, a fifth-year senior who has had to overcome many injuries in her career, also knew that the Wake Forest game would be big.
"It's senior night, it's the last home game, you've got to expect a lot," said Truman. "We just came out to play.É We capitalized on our opportunities, and we dominated them."
Truman scored the game-winning goal in the 22nd minute off an assist from Pickens. She then assisted freshman Casey McCluskey's goal with 20 minutes left in the game.
Coach Robbie Church believed that Truman and the rest of the seniors, who all started in their final home match, exhibited a great deal of leadership and poise.
"I'm just so, so happy for that group [of seniors] to be able to finish up like this," Church said. "This winÉ gives us a lot of momentum going into the last game and the ACC tournament."
Church also said that the team played even better Saturday night than they had against N.C. State. He believed the Wake Forest game was perhaps one of the best games his team has played in a long time.
Church and his team were not the only ones who were pleased with the win. Since it was parents' weekend, a lot proud soccer moms and dads braved the cold night to come out and watch their girls play. Even Demon Deacon coach Tony Daluz was impressed with the Blue Devils.
"Duke played very well. There's no question they're a good team....We created a lot of good chances, but just weren't on tonight," Daluz said. "That was a much better team than I saw against N.C. State the other night."
Both Duke and Wake Forest had come into Saturday's game off a win. The Demon Deacons beat Charlotte Tuesday, and senior Emily Taggart scored another goal to become the all-time leading scorer for her school. Saturday night, however, she could not capitalize on her five shots and was held at bay by a solid Duke defense and yet another stellar performance by goalie Thora Helgadottir. The sophomore came up with seven big saves.
Duke will face Vanderbilt next Saturday in Nashville for its last game of the season.
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