Duke and Wake Forest battled for 95 long minutes Wednesday night in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., waiting for someone to come through with the winning goal. In the 96th minute, Demon Deacon defender Kaley Fountain found the back of the net, lifting No. 18 Wake Forest (12-5-3, 7-2-2 in the ACC) into the conference tournament semifinals with a 1-0 victory.
Now, the Blue Devils (8-5-6, 3-4-4) will begin an even longer wait to see if they receive a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Duke could have strengthened its case with a win Wednesday, but the Blue Devils could not get the goal they needed.
"It just rips your gut out," head coach Robbie Church said. "It was a tough locker room afterwards.... It's a cruel game sometimes."
Duke is no stranger to overtime this season, as the contest marked the eighth time the Blue Devils have gone beyond regulation. They had not, however, experienced an overtime loss yet this season.
"I'm very proud of our girls," Church said. "We played some really good soccer against a really good team."
Duke had its chances throughout the contest. Sophomore forward Elisabeth Redmond recorded six of the Blue Devils' 13 shots, including one that went wide left in overtime. Four minutes later, KayAnne Gummersall fired a shot from just inside the box that was saved by Demon Deacon goalkeeper Amanda Barasha.
On the Wake counterattack, forward Sarah Winslow found Fountain on the top left corner of the box. The sophomore tallied her first goal of the season by placing the ball over senior goalkeeper Allison Lipsher's head.
"We just didn't finish," Church said. "We had a number of really good opportunities, really good looks on goal."
Lipsher was outstanding in goal for Duke, making six saves to keep the Demon Deacons off the board for 95 minutes.
"Ali did a good job connecting with our backs," Church said. "She's a big-time goalkeeper. The goal was nothing she could do. We just hope we have one more game for her to play in."
That hope now rests solely in the hands of the NCAA tournament selection committee. Church said the Blue Devils present an interesting case because of their high number of ties.
"We've just got to cross our fingers and pray a little," Church said. "But we're in kind of uncharted territory with all those ties we have."
The coach is more certain of his team's ability to perform if it does make the field.
"There's no question we're one of the top 64 teams in the country," he said. "If we get into the tournament, we can do a lot of damage."
The 64-team NCAA tournament field will be announced Monday night at 8 p.m.
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