Cooper Flax hesitated on the move leading up to his penalty shot attempt in the 32nd minute, but Wessel Speel did not hesitate to make the diving save, keeping the Blue Devils in the game. That goal could have been the difference in a scoreless contest.
At home in Koskinen Stadium, No. 16 Duke played to a 0-0 draw against in-state opponents Wake Forest. The Blue Devils entered the match without a home win in over a month, while the Demon Deacons came into the game in good form.
“It was a tough old game, physically, mentally, concentration wise … those are two good teams. You'll see these teams doing well towards the playoffs,” head coach John Kerr said.
Towards the end of the game, Duke had several big chances to seal its victory. With less than eight minutes left, Ulfur Bjornsson had a big chance to put the Blue Devils up, but he pushed it just wide of the goal. In the dying moments of the match, Kenan Hot hit a volley out of the air on his first touch. The ball sailed dangerously towards the top-left corner, but Trace Alphin, the Wake Forest keeper, anticipated the shot and came up with the crucial save to keep the game level.
“On another day, we probably score three or four goals,” Kerr said, highlighting the inefficiency in the final third.
Duke dominated the game early, retaining possession well and creating several opportunities. Hot put a shot on target from well outside the box in the second minute, and in the seventh minute, Adam Luckhurst put a big opportunity wide of the goal. Although they did not capitalize on their chances, the Blue Devils were certainly threatening.
“I was hoping it was going to be for the rest of the match, but Wake Forest got organized and were able to stifle us in a few moments late in the first half,” Kerr said of the hot start.
As the first half went on, Wake Forest grew into the game. The Demon Deacons saw more of the ball and began to create chances of their own. In the 32nd minute, Wake Forest’s Dylan Borso forced a save, and as players scrapped to gain possession of the ball, Duke defender Kamran Acito lunged for the ball, committing a foul in the box.
The Demon Deacons were awarded a penalty, and as Flax stepped up to take it, all eyes were on Speel, the Blue Devils’ veteran goalkeeper. The Hofstra transfer confidently dove right, fully stretching to make the save. The crowd roared for the keeper’s heroic effort.
“Coming up with that penalty save was massive, because the momentum would have changed drastically if that did go in, and it would have been very difficult to respond from there,” Kerr said.
Speel’s save revitalized the team, and it started to play with more energy. The attackers regained possession and put the pressure on Wake Forest to defend. Trevor Burns had the last big scoring opportunity of the half, but he was unable to control his shot and it went sailing over the goal, sending both teams to the locker room feeling as though they should have found the back of the net.
Duke started the next half with the same attacking energy, and before long, the team found itself with more chances. In a frantic 15-second period just three minutes into the second half, Luckhurst, Ruben Mesalles and Bjornsson all registered shots against Alphin.
One certainty throughout the game was the strength of the defense. While the attackers struggled to find the back of the net, the backline was putting out fires all night long. Although there were moments of weakness, such as a sloppy foul committed just outside the box midway through the second half, the Blue Devils always seemed to respond with a big deflection, save or block.
“We had to narrow our defensive line and make it more difficult to get numbers, and you could see how many steals that we got in passing lanes,” Kerr said. “We were able to cut out a lot of their attack based on our positioning, so I was really happy with those adjustments and guys stepping up.”
Although it was not a win, there were plenty of positives to take away from the game.
“It's one of our few clean sheets against a really good team at a crucial time of the year,” Kerr said. “We kept going though we had a couple near misses, and we didn't get bogged down. We kept our mentality strong and I’m very proud of our effort.”
Duke will look to grow from this result as it welcomes Howard to Durham Wednesday night.
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