With less than 13 minutes remaining in Saturday's field hockey game, Duke and Wake Forest-the teams that have faced off in the last two national finals-were deadlocked with one goal apiece in yet another close contest, which was marked by stringent defenses and intense midfield battles.
And just like those two national championship games, the Demon Deacons (4-0, 1-0 in the ACC) proved to be too much for the Blue Devils (4-1, 0-1), as Duke fell to Wake Forest for the 12th time in their last 14 meetings.
With the game tied, Wake Forest midfielder Haley Scott slipped a low roller past the Blue Devil defense and through goalkeeper Caitlin Williams' legs for her second goal of the period, putting the defending national champions up for good, 2-1.
"The second goal was my fault," Williams said. "It was an easy save I should have made, but I didn't."
Following the score, Duke head coach Beth Bozman immediately called a timeout to calm down and focus her team.
"Twelve minutes is a lot of time, we just talked about trying to get into our game plan," Bozman said.
The Blue Devils, however, could not execute their desired offense and never mounted a threat as Wake Forest controlled the ball the last few minutes and effectively ran out the clock.
Although Duke had a 1-0 lead going into the second half, Wake Forest tied the game just over a minute into the second period when Scott intercepted a pass in Duke's zone and converted the first of her two goals.
The defending national champions dominated the half, holding the Blue Devils to just three shots as compared to their 11. Wake Forest's aggressiveness also resulted in five penalty corners in the second half, which kept constant pressure on Williams and the Duke defense. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, were unable to find their offense after the break, a problem that has been apparent all season.
"We have struggled to put together as strong of a second half as a first half, and I think today was pretty much just another one of those situations," Bozman said. "We knew the smartest team was going to win today, and they were a little smarter than we were in the second half."
Early on, Duke's defense, led by senior Kirsten Bostrom, was able to hold off Wake Forest's potent offense, which controlled the ball for much of the first half. But Duke managed to strike 15 minutes into the match, when junior Amy Stopford put in a rebound off her own shot.
Duke maintained its aggressiveness for the rest of the half, outshooting the Demon Deacons 6-4.
Throughout the game, the Wake Forest defense did not allow Duke's stars to have an impact. Seniors Katie Grant and Nicole Dudek, the highest-scoring duo in the nation last year, were shut down. The two potent scorers combined for only three shots on goal the entire game.
"They did a great job of fronting us and marking us, but we just weren't using the space and creating space for ourselves," Grant said through tears. "It's just a hard loss, especially to them with the pattern that's been over the years. I just personally felt that I didn't play up to my potential, and that kind of upsets me."
Adding salt to this fresh wound is the fact that four Blue Devils left Sunday to compete in the Junior World Cup in Santiago, Chile. Grant, Stopford and junior Cara-Lynn Lopresti will join the U.S. squad, while junior Hilary Linton will represent her native Canada. All four players will miss Duke's next four games.
"We have been tweaking lineups the previous four games in preparation for them leaving," Bozman said. "I mean obviously it is an impact-it's almost half of your starting lineup-but I think we have a lot of talent across the board, and we'll be ready."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.