There were just over six minutes left in the third quarter; Duke and Wake Forest had been battling it out all afternoon to no avail.
Suddenly, the Blue Devils were awarded a penalty stroke. With the tension high at the Demon Deacons’ home stadium, Duke junior Macy Szukics calmly stepped up and smashed the ball low into the bottom corner, sending Wake Forest goalie Ellie Todd the wrong way to break the deadlock. This marked her first goal of the season.
And the Blue Devils never looked back.
In the ACC tournament quarterfinals, No. 6 Duke field hockey traveled to Winston-Salem Tuesday to take on Wake Forest. Despite facing a valiant defense by the Demon Deacons early in the game, the Blue Devils ultimately prevailed, winning 4-1 and clinching a ticket to the ACC semifinals.
The victory came about after No. 2-seed Duke (12-5, 6-2 in the ACC) outshot the host team 17-4, including nine shots on goal. No. 7-seed Wake Forest (7-11, 2-6 in the ACC) played one of its finest games all season during the first half, but ultimately they fell to the Blue Devils, despite Todd making five heroic saves.
“I think we just worked our way into the game.” Duke head coach Pam Bustin said after the game. “We needed to up our connection and they did fantastic.”
In the fourth quarter, it was junior Alaina McVeigh who got on the scoresheet. Her backhand smashed into the top-left corner of Wake Forest’s cage, putting Duke up 2-0. Just under four minutes later, she scored again to complete her brace, giving the Blue Devils an unassailable lead. This time, McVeigh took advantage of Todd’s position and slotted the ball in from an almost impossible angle. The Landsdale, Pa., native now leads the team with 13 goals this year, and was named to the All-ACC first team before the tournament.
“Alaina and Macy up front combined really well to help keep our attack flowing.” Bustin said. “But it really was a team effort.”
Despite being down three goals to none, the Demon Deacons responded immediately. A beautiful long ball from Wake Forest found senior Brooke McCusker’s stick, who struck an unsavable shot past Wollaert. Duke’s defense has been one of the best in the nation, having shut out oppositions 11 times — the most by any Division-I school — as well as only conceding seven goals in nine conference games, including the postseason.
But it was too little, too late. Duke’s high-intensity pressing led to two consecutive penalty corners late in the fourth quarter, and senior Logan Clouser scored a key goal, which basically put the game to rest with less than four minutes remaining on the clock.
A good drive from Demon Deacons in the second quarter saw Wake Forest sophomore Ava Moore having a direct shot at goal which was wide of the mark. The hosts continued to put pressure on the Blue Devils and soon gained its first penalty corner of the game but again was denied a goal. However, Duke soon got back into the rhythm of the game, recording eight shots and forcing three saves in the first half. Although it was an even contest, both teams were held scoreless by the halftime whistle.
“We got ourselves where we want to be, as far as what we expected,” Bustin said of the postseason so far. “Regardless of who we’re playing, we’ll be ready to step up and bring Duke hockey to that game.”
Duke will stay in Winston-Salem to take on No. 3-seed Boston College in the ACC tournament semifinal tomorrow at 3:30 p.m., hoping to build on the momentum and secure a place in the final on Friday.
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