After a 3-0 win against Miami Friday in Coral Gables, Fla., Duke fell to Wake Forest 1-0 in Winston-Salem Sunday to end its regular-season schedule.
With the loss, the Blue Devils (9-7-2, 5-4-1 in the ACC) finished seventh in the conference standings. Had the team beat the No. 20 Demon Deacons (14-5, 6-4), Duke would have been ranked second entering the ACC tournament.
That win was almost a reality Oct. 11.
On the same field at Spry Stadium, Duke was in the midst of upsetting then-No. 9 Wake Forest 1-0 when lightning delays forced the teams to terminate the match less than 10 minutes into the second half.
The scores of that night were erased and the game was rescheduled to Sunday.
"We knew what we had to do, so I don't want to use that as an excuse," head coach Robbie Church said. "It's unfortunate that we had to come back and do it but we just didn't get it done."
The Blue Devils came out strong but failed to capitalize on scoring opportunities. Wake Forest, however, found the net 34 minutes into the first half when Caitlin Farrell scored on a header off a corner kick to score the game-winning goal.
"The first 15 minutes we controlled the pace of the game, but we never got anything out of it," Church said. "We were never all that dangerous. They worked really hard. Their will to win was a little bit better than our will to win. I was disappointed in myself. We were out-coached and they were more prepared than us."
Church said he switched up his lineup to try and jump-start Duke's offense, leaving goalkeeper Allison Lipsher vulnerable to fend off the Demon Deacon attack. But Wake Forest-which out-shot Duke 12-8 on the night-could not put in another goal. Lipsher had eight saves to keep the Blue Devils in the game.
"Ali played fantastic back there," Church said. "She saved our butts, as it could have been worse."
But even with Lipsher's performance, the Blue Devils could not send the game into overtime.
Although Church said there were several times he thought Duke would tie the game in the second half, the Blue Devils struggled with finishing. Just three minutes into the second half, freshman KayAnne Gummersall-who also scored Duke's first goal against Miami Friday-headed a ball just left of the Wake Forest goalpost.
"We attacked very well, we just couldn't get a foot to it," Church said. "We couldn't get in front of players."
Sunday's game marks the first time Duke has lost to Wake Forest in the last nine matchups between the two teams. The Blue Devils will next compete in the first round of the ACC tournament Wednesday, Nov. 1 in Cary.
Brackets for the tournament will be released Monday morning.
"We are a very good team when everybody brings it," Church said. "It is frustrating and disappointing, but we will come back. We have had games like this, and we will come back. It puts us on a tougher road now in the ACC tournament, but we are capable of coming back."
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