The play was eerily similar.
Katie Grant, the Blue Devils freshman forward, the team leader in points and the ACC rookie of the year, was streaking with the ball down the right side of the field in the first half Saturday night against Wake Forest in the ACC semifinals.
After practicing this action over and over Wednesday--she had made this run five times in the previous game against Virginia, scoring each time en route to setting the tournament record for most points in a single contest--Grant beat the last Wake Forest defender and shot the ball. The shot hit the goalie, who had rushed Grant and taken away her angle, in the leg and rolled out of bounds.
The first time around, the Cavaliers had no answer for Grant.
This contest, the Demon Deacons were ready for her.
No goal, no assist, nothing.
"She's just a solid player," Demon Deacon head coach Jennifer Averill said. "We knew the moves... There's a reason we've been to this campus 10 times in the last two weeks. They are just an awesome team."
That play made a statement. Wake Forest blanketed Grant all game, doubling and even triple-teaming her at times. The Blue Devil offense struggled for most of the first half, as the Demon Deacons controlled play. With the exception of Grant's two runs-she had another chance later but her pass across the goalmouth was cleared out-Duke did not have any serious scoring chances. Wake Forest was not dominating Duke, but it was definite that they had the momentum.
Coming out of half-time, however, the Blue Devils responded.
Less than minute into the second half, sophomore Chrissie Murphy finished off a Johanna Bischof cross that had deflected off the Demon in the goal. Just like that, Duke was up a point.
Indeed, after Duke's goal, Wake Forest charged back. Despite the extra Blue Devil defender in the back--Duke played four defenders throughout the game instead of the usual three--the Demon Deacons were able to send a through-ball past the Duke line of defense and score.
"The momentum shifts throughout the game, and I thought we had the upper hand in the first half," Blue Devil head coach Liz Tchou said. "[In the] second half there was a period of 10 minutes or so [when] Wake Forest came at us, and I was wanting to call a time-out at that point - they had scored a goal."
A few minutes later, the Deacons scored off a penalty corner to end the scoring at 2-1.
Wake Forest had beaten a team that had put together a full game of inspired hockey.
"I felt more in the last four games like a team, like a unit, than I have all season or with any team I've ever played with," junior defender Kim Gogola said. "And when you have a unit and you have so much confidence in each other and you know that everyone is going to go out and play for each other, it's really exciting. I knew it was going to be a battle, and I thought it was a great game."
After the game, the Duke players and coaches were disappointed but proud, while the Demon Deacons were happy to come away with a win.
The Blue Devils did not express frustration, understanding that this was not their only chance to win an ACC tournament.
After the game, there was a feeling similar to the mutual respect boxers show after wailing away on each other for 15 rounds en route to a disputed decision.
In the end, as frustrating as defeated may have been for the Duke squad, it was unimportant that it lost.
Instead, after many years of disappointing losses and first round conference-tournament exits, it was both important and clear that Duke field hockey had the respect of its peers.
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