Before Saturday night, Wake Forest keeper Kenna Healy had not given up a goal in her previous 245 minutes and 30 seconds of action.
Thirty-five seconds into her match against Duke, the streak was history.
From 12 yards out, sophomore Carmen Bognanno volleyed a perfect cross from teammate Lauren Tippets and beat Healy left to score her second game-winning goal of the season. The score gave the No. 10 Blue Devils (8-3-1, 1-1 in the ACC) a 1-0 win over the No. 9 Demon Deacons (8-2-1, 0-1).
"We got the ball up the sideline, and I was like 'I am fresh, I might as well make a run in the box', " Bognanno said. "It just kind of came through the box and I was just thinking about placing it. I used the inside of my foot and it went through the keeper's hands."
Duke was the hungrier team. Although it only scored one goal, it dominated play for the entire game. The aggressive Blue Devils outshot Wake Forest 14 to four, and the ball spent the majority of the time on the Demon Deacons' side of the field. Duke's attack was very methodical, relying on short, accurate passes rather than on the long ball to generate scoring chances.
"I've not seen Duke play that well in one game in my seven years at Wake," Wake Forest head coach Tony da Luz said. "That was the best performance I've seen a Duke team make."
When asked about adjustments he would make if he saw the Blue Devils again in the ACC tournament, da Luz responded with disgust.
"Hopefully my team would be a little more interested in the game from the beginning," da Luz said. "They just were not fighting and Duke really wanted the game from the very beginning. They kept the pressure on and passed the ball very well. I do not think I would make huge changes, we just have to play better on the day."
On the other side of the ball, Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church was ecstatic with his team's effort after a tough loss to No. 1 North Carolina Wednesday.
"A lot of times one of the things we talk about is 'adversity reveals character'," Church said. "I thought you saw a lot of our character. We were really ready to play. This is our fourth game in eight days, and for us to play what I thought was the best of the four games is just big-time for our girls. It shows me maturity and mental development that the girls have. I thought they did just a fantastic job."
The win was especially satisfying for co-captain Gwendolyn Oxenham. "I think that we were all fairly embarrassed over the UNC loss," Oxenham said. "Wake Forest was who we planned on taking it out on."
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