Duke will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking late loss as it returns to Winston-Salem, where it was knocked out of last year’s ACC tournament.
The No. 16 Blue Devils face off against No. 3 Wake Forest at 7 p.m. at Spry Stadium. The game continues the trend in which Duke has played ranked opponents in three of its last four games.
The Blue Devils (4-3-1, 1-1 in the ACC) are coming off a loss to No. 7 Florida State, in which the Seminoles scored the winner with 3:02 to go in regulation. The unbeaten Demon Deacons (6-0-1, 1-0-1) beat Miami 4-0 in their last game and will be playing Duke for the sixth time in three years.
“We’ve got a great opportunity here,” Blue Devil head coach Robbie Church said. “We’ve got a quality opponent in Wake Forest. Besides Carolina, Wake Forest is probably our biggest rival in soccer. Every game is close. We have a lot of respect for that program.”
Duke has not won this season against a ranked opponent since beating Texas A&M in its first game of the season, and Wake Forest will not make it any easier for the Blue Devils to break this streak. The Demon Deacons will be led by their all-time leading goalscorer, senior forward Katie Stengel. Stengel already has five goals and six assists this season and forms a dangerous tandem with junior midfielder Riley Ridgik. Stengel is coming off of a one-goal and two-assist performance against Miami, while Ridgik notched two goals in the same game.
Church said that keeping Stengel quiet could go a long way in stopping Wake Forest from scoring.
“We have to make sure that she doesn’t get balls, receive balls, turn and face us,” Church said. “She’s very dangerous off the dribble, and she strikes an unbelievable ball. I’ve never really seen a player like her. She doesn’t need many chances to score goals. An average forward, they would need around five to six chances to score a goal, but Katie Stengel needs about two to score one goal. She’s just a great finisher.”
Wake Forest is not just offensively strong. It has been just as strong defensively, conceding only four goals this season. In comparison, Duke has conceded six goals this year.
Church said that while Stengel remained a major threat, the Demon Deacons’ strength lay in their defense.
“Everybody gives Katie Stengel a lot of credit, and she deserves all of it.” Church said. “But the key to them is three people. Their keeper Aubrey Bledsoe is one of the best in the country. They have two center backs that are big and strong in the middle of the park, and they are very, very good also. You win by defense—look at Wake Forest.”
Duke will look to get off to a strong start, something they have had trouble with this year. The Blue Devils have scored seven goals in the second half of matches this season, as opposed to just two first-half goals.
“We have typically over the years been a really fast start team," Church said. "We’ve been the team that scores the first goal, and we’ve only done that once this season. We have to play with a sense of urgency, there's no question about it. We do find that sense of urgency in the second half, but to improve, we can have that sense of urgency over both halves.”
Seniors Kim DeCesare, Mollie Pathman and Kaitlyn Kerr lead the Blue Devils with two goals each. Duke will look for its offense to continue its recent success and find the back of the net against a tough defense. DeCesare scored against Wake Forest last season and will look to lead the way along with junior midfielder Laura Weinberg, who has three assists this season.
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