Coming off a hard-fought overtime loss to archrival North Carolina last week, Duke battled No. 9 Wake Forest to a 0-0 overtime tie Thursday night at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem. The tie pushes Duke’s record to 4-4-3 and 0-1-1 in the ACC.
Duke played well despite its debilitating injury situation and school-record forth straight overtime game. Eight players were unable to suit up for the game, leaving head coach Robbie Church with limited subs. Nonetheless, Church was proud of his team’s performance Thursday.
“We are laying everything we have out there on the field,” Church said. “We are very proud of our girls for getting a point out of this game. We battled for 110 minutes tonight.”
The defense in particular played extremely well against the Demon Deacons. Dealing with a physical Wake Forest team that committed 15 fouls, Duke matched Wake’s physicality and managed to limit its opponent to only four shots on goal.
“Our defense played awesome,” senior captain and forward KayAnne Gummersall said. “It was the most physical we played all year. We really went out hard and stuck in on tackles.”
In addition the strong play of the defense, freshman goalie Tara Campbell had another s effort. Making four solid saves, Campbell recorded her third shutout of the season. Notably, her right-footed block of a breakaway shot by Wake Forest’s Jill Hutchinson in the second half helped preserve the draw. Church praised his first-year keeper, saying that only a special shot would get past her.
On the other end of the field, the Duke attack was led by senior captain Elisabeth Redmond and midfielder Gretchen Miller with four shots apiece, and Chelsea Canepa had three of her own. Although the team had 18 shots, only six were on target, and Duke was unable to put the ball in the net. Gummersall lamented that the offense’s inability to finish, a problem that has plagued Duke all season.
Despite earning a point in the ACC standings in a tough road environment, the Blue Devils had a second straight victory slip out of its hands.
“We feel like we could have won both games,” Redmond said. “We are doing the best we can and pulling together as a team, but we are facing a challenge with all of our injuries.”
Duke, with its first ACC point under its belt, now looks forward to continuing its intense conference schedule. The Blue Devils have three straight ACC home games starting this Sunday when they play Maryland at Koskinen Field.
“We are looking forward to going home and focusing on our offense, scoring, and getting results,” said Redmond. “We are prepared for Maryland and are extremely excited for our ACC home opener.
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