The field hockey team fell Friday to No. 1 seed Wake Forest 2-1 in the semifinals of the ACC tournament at Williams Field Friday night. The Blue Devils came in with confidence following Thursday's victory over Virginia, but failed to counter two second half goals by the Demon Deacons. Ranked third nationally, Wake Forest went on to win the tournament, shutting out Maryland 4-0 Sunday.
While they know that a few different bounces could have yielded a different outcome, the Blue Devils were proud of their play and displayed only limited disappointment about the loss.
"Overall I thought the team effort was great," head coach Liz Tchou said.
After a scoreless first half that saw six total shots on goal, sophomore Chrissie Murphy gave Duke a 1-0 advantage when she slammed a shot from three feet out into the left side of the net during the first minute of the second period. Johanna Bischof assisted on the goal after her pass skimmed off Wake Forest's keeper and bounced right to Murphy.
The Demon Deacons evened the match midway through the period when Ariel Meyers connected on a Maria Whitehead pass. The shot rattled past a diving Christy Morgan.
With 10 minutes remaining in regulation, Wake Forest's Kelly Dostal scored what was ultimately the winning goal off a penalty corner. The play developed quickly, and Morgan was barely able to see a low shot into the right corner of the net.
The match up was a defensive struggle, a change for Duke following the previous day's 5-2 victory over Virginia. Specifically, Wake Forest focused on shutting down Duke's biggest scoring threat, freshman Katie Grant.
Grant was coming off a huge three-goal, two-assist effort against Virginia. The freshman talent had a few runs during the first half but, facing double and triple coverage, was not able to get off a shot. Grant was named ACC Rookie of the Year and--along with sophomore Suzanne Simpson--a member of the All-Tournament team Sunday.
"She is just a solid player," Wake Forest head coach Jennifer Averill said about Grant. "We knew the moves. I've had enough nightmares about her. You are either going to take a tranquilizer or throw another cover back there.
"I felt both teams did a really good job of clogging the midfield so that you didn't get too many breaks," Averill said.
"They are a strong team," Tchou said. "You can't really hold them. We just made a few defensive mistakes."
Both squads left more players than usual on defense and consequently had trouble threading the ball through the midfield. The Demon Deacons countered Duke's defensive game plan, leaving extra players in the backfield to prevent a long pass and quick score by the Blue Devils.
On the bubble for the NCAA tournament, the 13-8 Blue Devils remain unsure whether they have played their final game of the year. The Blue Devils will learn their fate Tuesday when the brackets are announced. One positive is that North Carolina fell beneath .500 after losing to Maryland in the other semifinal and thus will not be considered for postseason play.
"I have never been this questionable about whether we are going to make it or not," Tchou said. "I think we have a good chance but at the same time there have been so many upsets in the country."
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