After losing two consecutive matches to North Carolina and lowly Florida Atlantic, Duke was seemingly in no position to compete with No. 1 Wake Forest Saturday. The odds seemed overwhelming.
Someone forgot to tell to the Blue Devils.
Behind another inspired defensive effort led by senior goalie Brendan Fitzgerald's four saves, the Blue Devils (6-5-2, 2-2-2 in the ACC) fought the Demon Deacons (13-0-1,4-0-1) to a scoreless draw in Winston-Salem, N.C.
"No question about it, we were the underdogs," head coach John Kerr said. "We knew we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.... It was nice to go into a game with no real pressure and no real expectations."
Wake Forest showed early why it deserved the No. 1 ranking, outshooting the Blue Devils 11-6 in regulation. But despite its underdog status, Duke battled back in the extra sessions and controlled play, especially in the second extra period, when the Blue Devils had three shots and didn't surrender any. Senior Mike Grella once again led the Duke attack with four shots on goal, and sophomore Cole Grossman added three shots of his own.
Grella almost ended the No. 1 team's 18-game winning streak with less than 30 seconds to go, but his shot went just wide. With 18 seconds remaining, the Blue Devils missed another golden opportunity when senior Pavelid Castenada fired a shot off a corner kick that sailed just over the crossbar.
"We knew they were going to have a majority of the possession," Kerr said. "Our plan was to stay compact and organized and really seize a couple of opportunities... you want to stay in the game with the No. 1 team in the country and give your team a chance to win in the end, which we did."
The Demon Deacons were stifled for most of the game, particularly in the second half, and were limited to 14 shots despite averaging 19 per game this season. Duke focused on Marcus Tracy, the leading scorer in the ACC, and succeeded by limiting him to two shots, neither of which were on goal.
"The whole back four did a great job of preventing [Wake] from receiving the ball," Kerr said. "When they did receive it, they had someone on their back the whole time."
On the other side of the ball, Grella once again controlled play offensively and created numerous opportunities for his teammates by drawing the defense's attention.
Most important for the Blue Devils, though, was the reemergence of the team-wide effort that was lacking over the past week, especially in the loss against Florida Atlantic.
"We were very disappointed with last week," Kerr said. "The coaching staff challenged the players... and they came through with an A-plus."
Senior defenseman Darrius Barnes, who played all 110 minutes of the game and was pivotal in shutting down Tracy, echoed his coach's sentiments. He also said the team found motivation from its recent struggles.
"FAU was definitely a wake-up call," Barnes said. "We came into this game thinking, 'If FAU can beat us on our home field, we can beat Wake Forest at their home field.'"
And while the Blue Devils did not pick up that win, they left with a restored sense of confidence after enduring their worst week of the season.
"We represent Duke University," Grella said. "We should be a lot more proud to wear this shirt.... We're Duke, and we should be respected."
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