Facing its fourth top-10 opponent in its last five games, Duke once again found itself on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Squaring off for the sixth time in three years, the No. 16 Blue Devils fell to No. 3 Wake Forest 3-1 Thursday night at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. The loss was Duke's second straight after dropping a 2-1 home decision to then-No. 7 Florida State Sunday.
"We didn't get the goals, but they scored the goals, and we have to change that," head coach Robbie Church said. "We have to get rewarded, we have to make some decisions—a little bit more movement in the final third."
After being held scoreless for Duke's first eight games of the season, senior Laura Weinberg tallied her first goal of the year in the 51st minute when she took a pass from freshman midfielder Toni Payne and beat Demon Deacon goalkeeper Audrey Bledsoe from 20 yards out.
“She’s been working hard, especially the last three or four games.” Church said. “It was good to see Laura rewarded for all her hard work.”
Midfielder Riley Ridgik struck first for Wake Forest (7-0-1, 2-0-1 in the ACC), giving the Demon Deacons a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute when she beat Blue Devil goalkeeper Ali Kershner from long range for her fifth goal of the season.
Duke (4-4-1, 1-2-0) had no shortage of scoring opportunities in the first half, firing off seven shots in the opening 45 minutes but failing to find the back of the net. The Blue Devils have been nothing short of a second-half team this season, with just two of their 10 goals coming in the first period.
Multiple offside calls only added to Duke's woes in the first half, wiping out several scoring chances and sending the Blue Devils into the locker room trailing by a goal.
“We started off the game great.” Church said. “We have to be able to execute when we’re playing well. We have to get something out of it. And that's a big part of it. We were playing very, very well in the first half but also were down 1-0 at halftime.”
Weinberg's goal evened the score just six minutes into the second half, but Wake Forest forward Caroline Wootten put the Demon Deacons ahead 2-1 just 12 minutes later.
Wake Forest would never relinquish its lead, as forward Katie Stengel sealed the victory when she beat Kershner in the 83rd minute to cushion her team's advantage.
Stopping Stengel and Ridgik—who make up one of the top scoring duos in the ACC—was Duke's defensive priority. But both broke through against the Blue Devils, each coming away with a goal and an assist.
"I think overall Katie Stengel was good through the run of play. She became a real factor late in the game on the counterattack," Church said. "We would have the ball and then a bad touch or a bad pass, and they would find her. She really became a handful for us—she's a great, great player."
Church said his team made some mistakes, but overall it was Wake Forest’s strong players, not any failure on Duke’s part, that left his team with the loss.
"Wake Forest is a really good team.... We had a chance, and I can’t ask anything more of my team," Church said. “Nobody’s quitting, nobody’s dropping their head. We’re all ready to play when we go to New York on Sunday.”
After enduring one of their toughest stretches of the season, the Blue Devils will head north to Syracuse (4-5, 0-3) Sunday for the teams' first meeting in program history. But a date with the Orange will be no picnic for Duke—Syracuse fell 1-0 to No. 4 Notre Dame Thursday night when it conceded the game's lone goal with three seconds remaining.
“[Syracuse is] going to be ready—this is their first home ACC game ever.” Church said. “Nobody feels sorry for us, we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We just have to keep moving. And we will. We’re getting better each game, but we’ll be ready to play on Sunday.”
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