For the second time this season, No. 12 Duke (11-8, 1-4 in the ACC) lost a close game to conference rival Wake Forest (12-4, 3-2)--only this time, the defeat ended its ACC tournament title hopes.
The Blue Devils went down 3-2 to the No. 3 Demon Deacons Thursday at Boston College's Newton Campus Turf Field. Duke battled back from a two goal deficit to tie the game early in the second half, but a score by Wake Forest's Kim Romansky with 4:13 remaining in the game sealed the victory for the Demon Deacons. The Blue Devils' goals came courtesy of senior Shayna McGeehan and junior Ashley Pultorak.
Duke goalkeeper Caitlin Williams recorded a career-high 13 saves, which kept the Blue Devils in the contest despite being outshot 26-6.
Wake Forest jumped out to a 2-0 advantage 23 minutes into the game, but McGeehan pulled one goal back on a tip-in at the 28:39 mark off a pass from teammate Lauren Miller. The Blue Devils managed to tie the game almost immediately after the intermission, as Pultorak knocked home a pass from fellow senior Laura Suchoski.
Unfortunately for Duke, a rebound from a corner gave Romansky an easy goal, and the team was unable to tie the score once again.
The Blue Devils now hope to qualify for the NCAA tournament, whose field will be announced Tuesday.
-from staff reports
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