I left with 35 mins remaining in 2nd half ... Duke was leading 3-0 ... no joke. Duke had 2 solid goals ... I missed the first one, which was only 30 secs into the match. Wake had 3 starters out, and were playing a man down after a stupid tackle (by #13 I think) that led to a direct red ... Wake was having a nightmare while Duke was all over the field. Maybe someone who stayed for the whole match can post the final ... hope I didn't miss what would have to be the most miraculous comeback in the history of ACC soccer.
Duke came out on fire and Wake was very very flat. It took Duke all of 34 seconds to get on the scoreboard. Spencer Wadsworth took the ball down the left side of the field and sent up a ball that was somewhere between a shot and a cross. Regardless, it found the back of the net and the Blue Devils were up before the game really even got going. Duke continued to completely dominate the first half. The second goal came off of a great feed from Blake Camp to Nigi Adogwa. Nigi's shot was deflected by the keeper, as was Duke's header follow-up, but Wadsworth hit the back of the net again with a rocket from about 6 yards out, off the second deflection. Duke's third goal was scored by Blake camp with a beautiful left footer from about 20 yards out. He had a couple teammates making runs into the box, so I think everyone expected a cross, but instead he blasted it right past the keeper. Wake grew more and more frustrated with each goal and looked really bad. Their frustration led to a number of stupid fouls. It got really rough for a little bit, but the ref cooled everyone down by ejecting a Wake player near the end of the first half for a pretty tough tackle. I was a bit surprised that it was a straight red card, but that player had already committed a couple tackles that could have been a yellow card, and I think the ref had warned him previously (without a card). First 25 minutes of the second half were just like the first half. Duke dominated and probably should have had a 4th goal. Then, for some reason, Duke started playing terrible soccer. This gave Wake a little momentum, and credit to them, they ran with it. For the last 20 minutes Duke gave the ball away, missed easy stops, and was slow to every 50/50 ball. Combine that with Wake finally waking up and playing some great thru balls, and you got Wake scoring 2 short handed goals, and Duke hanging on for dear life at the end. I'm glad my Blue Devils pulled it off, but they'll need to play the way they did in the first 70 minutes for ALL of every game if they want to go anywhere in the ACCs or NCAAs. ACC tournament next week should be a great one. See you guys there.
It was actually Nigi who took the ball down the left flank and crossed it and Spence tapped it in, in front of the goal. I was a bit surprised at how flat Wake came out last night, but you gotta give credit to Duke, they played well. There were so many times where Wake would build up play in the midfield and Duke would diffuse the situation by anticipating passes and reading the game pretty well. James Riley is a baller for Wake. Kid is smooth as hell in the midfield, but other than Riley and Parkhurst, nobody stood out for Wake. Highlight of the game: Wadsworth givin Phelan and Parkhurst a little shimmy then splitting right through both of them.
Thanks for clarifying that. I was on the other end of the bleachers and couldn't tell exactly what happened. I just saw a cross and didn't know anyone got a piece of it, and since Wadsworth was credited with the goal, I assumed it was his cross.