This time, they'll try to put it away early.
When the women's soccer team squares off with Wake Forest at 3 p.m. today in the ACC Tournament in Clemson, S.C., both teams will probably be thinking about their last meeting. Earlier this year, the Demon Deacons defeated Duke on a controversial last-second goal.
"It's definitely a motivation," junior co-captain Lauren Cyran said. "I'd be lying if I said otherwise."
On Sept. 25th, the teams battled to a scoreless tie throughout most of regulation, but with under 10 seconds remaining in the game, Wake Forest mounted an offensive charge. Wake's Karli Schilling appeared to receive a pass as time expired, but continued to dribble toward the Duke goal. Schilling lofted a shot over goalie Dana Piper, which rolled to the back of the net.
With the Deacons piled on the field in celebration, the Blue Devils looked for clarification from the referee. By rule, the ball must cross the line before the end of regulation. Though both the timekeeper and official scorer declared the ball was late in crossing, the goal was allowed by the referee.
"I was already off the field getting water for overtime," junior forward Andi Melde said. "When I heard [the goal counted] I just picked up my bag and went to the bus. There wasn't any point in arguing, [Coach Bill Hempen] was doing a good job with that."
After the ruling was made clear, Hempen was given a red card for punting the ball off of the field in protest.
"For our morale it was tough," Cyran said. "It was the beginning of a pretty tough couple of weeks."
In the weeks following, Duke suffered through a six-game stretch in which it didn't win a game and fell out of the national rankings. During this period, the defense suffered from a lack of cohesion, and the offense struggled to find the net.
Those problems seem to be fixed now. The Blue Devils are riding a three game winning streak, all against ranked opponents. This late surge earned Duke the second seed in the tournament and the opportunity to set matters straight with the seventh-seeded Demon Deacons.
"It was just a horrible way to lose," Melde said. "[Revenge] is definitely there in the back of our heads."
Though the Blue Devils recognize the motivational factor that the game against Wake provides, they are hesitant to say that their main goal is revenge. Duke now has to look at the bigger picture: its better play of late and its chances for an invitation to the NCAA tournament.
"I think we're trying to keep this game in perspective," Cyran said. "We just want to keep rising and the ACC Tournament is a pretty good time to do it. A couple of good wins will insure us alot... The way we've been playing I think we deserve a bid [to the NCAA's]."
Should the Blue Devils advance past Wake, they will likely face third-seeded Clemson, who plays sixth seed Maryland tonight at 6 p.m. Duke defeated the Tigers 2-1 in an overtime game earlier this season.
The newfound Blue Devil confidence reflects Duke's inspired play of late. Goalkeeper Dana Piper, who struggled through the early season, came through with two huge shutouts last weekend against Virginia and Florida.
"She had a rough time [early in the season]," Melde said. "We put a lot of pressure on her. [Now] I know everyone on the team wants to have her back there."
The Blue Devils resurgent offense has been led by the outstanding play of two freshman, forward Emily Feeney and midfielder Sherrill Kester, who stands atop Duke's scoring list with eight goals and one assist. Feeney notched the game-winning goal against Florida, while Kester has three goals in the last four games.
With the Blue Devils riding a wave of confidence, they look to their first round game as one which they can and should win. Melde characterizes the Demon Deacon team as scrappy and quick, while Cyran remembers Wake as a physical, hard-working team which uses enthusiasm to make up for it's lack of star players.
"There's nothing extraordinary about them," Cyran said. "I think we should beat them. But then again, we didn't the first time."
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