Duke (7-9-1, 2-4 in the ACC) trailed No. 3 Wake Forest 1-0 at halftime and came out of the intermission ready to attack. While marshaling three quality scoring opportunities within the first 10 minutes of the second period, the Blue Devils were unable to muster a goal.
Then, at the 55-minute mark, the Demon Deacons (12-3, 4-2) created a counterattack as Justin Moose powered down the sideline and crossed the ball to Jeremiah White. He sent the ball past Duke keeper Justin Trowbridge for the team's second tally.
From there, Wake Forest added two additional goals en route to a 4-0 shutout of Duke Friday night in Winston Salem. The Demon Deacons extended their winning streak to eight consecutive matches, while the Blue Devils' own run of five straight victories was abruptly snapped.
"We were committed to pressing forward," head coach John Rennie said. "They got a counterattack and the wind kind of came out of our sails at that point."
Just four minutes after pushing the score to 2-0, Wake Forest's Scott Sealy netted the team's third goal of the match, assisted by White.
The Blue Devils matched the strong Wake Forest squad throughout the first half, only allowing one goal at the 25-minute mark. Steven Curfman scored on a free kick from 25 yards that, according to Rennie, nobody could have saved.
Despite the goal and only generating one shot on goal, Rennie and his team were pleased and confident with their first-half play, which led to to the strong serge after halftime.
"We sat back a little bit, and they got a bunch of shots but we didn't let them get behind us," Rennie said about his team's play during the first half.
The Blue Devils struggled because several key players were forced to sit out Friday night's game. Joe Kelly could not play after accumulating five yellow cards on the season. Nigi Adogwa, the teams leading scorer, didn't play as a result of a leg injury. Freshman defenseman Kyle Helton also missed the game due to an injury.
Limited offensively with the absence of Adogwa, Duke only created one corner opportunity throughout the contest and took eight shots on goal--seven of which came in the second period.
Despite allowing four goals to a potent Wake Forest offense, Trowbridge recorded a career-high 10 saves and passed another career milestone, saving his 56th shot of the season.
The Blue Devils culminate an up-and-down regular season when they host South Florida on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.
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