No. 17 Wake Forest Earns Big Four, Ranked ACC Win Versus No. 22 Duke

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The No. 17 Wake Forest field hockey team posted a 3-0 victory over No. 22 Duke in its Atlantic Coast Conference home opener on Sunday afternoon inside Kentner Stadium.

After a scoreless 15 minutes, second-period goals from Grace Delmotte and Rachel Thetford gave Wake Forest (7-3, 1-1 ACC) a 2-0 advantage over Duke (4-7, 0-3 ACC) at the halftime break.
Delmotte's score that got the Deacs on the board was her fourth of the season, while Thetford's goal at the 26-minute mark was the first of the freshman's collegiate career.

Wake Forest added another goal in the fourth quarter as Maggie Dickman notched her second score of the season following the Deacs' first corner of the match with 12 minutes remaining.
Lanckohr dished out a match-high two assists, while Hannah Maxwell and Delmotte also produced assists on Wake Forest's goals.

Freshman Ellie Todd pitched her third shutout of the season, tallying five saves in 60 minutes in goal.

Wake Forest's defense continued to impress, holding an opponent to two goals or less for the eighth time this season.

The victory over the Blue Devils also extends the Deacs' winning streak over Duke to three-straight matches. Additionally over this streak, the Demon Deacons have outscored their Big Four rival,10-2.
How It Happened

Wake Forest came out as the aggressor following the first whistle, firing two shots in the opening minutes. Duke's goalkeeper made a save on the Deacs' first shot, while Brooke McCusker's attempt was wide.
The Demon Deacons defense denied Duke's first penalty corner opportunity at the 10-minute mark with stifling defense in front of the cage.
Moments later, Ellie Todd made her first save of the match. Duke followed that up with another shot, but Lee Ann Gordon blocked it to keep the match scoreless.
With 2:10 minutes remaining in the first, Duke received another corner but Wake Forest's defense blocked the attempt. This was the last action of the first period as the match remained scoreless heading into the second quarter.
Grace Delmotte got Wake Forest on the scoreboard five minutes into the second, handling a perfect pass from Meike Lanckohr and firing the ball into an empty net.
- This marked Delmotte's fourth goal of the season and Lanckohr's fifth assist, a new career high.
A perfect outlet pass got Hannah Maxwell out front, who then dished a pass to Rachel Thetford in front of the net for the freshman's first collegiate goal.
- This marked Maxwell's fourth assist of the year.
In addition to its 2-0 lead, Wake Forest held advantages in shots (6-4) and shots on goal (5-1) after 30 minutes.
The Deacs denied back-to-back penalty corners at the halfway point of the period to preserve its 2-0 lead.
- Todd made her second save of the match on the first opportunity before the Duke's next shot was blocked in the circle.
Duke's pair of attempts were the only shots of the period as the teams juggled for possession throughout the remaining minutes of the match.
Todd notched another save early in the final frame, denying Duke's sixth corner of the match with 12:50 left in regulation.
The Deacs added to its lead after Maggie Dickman found the back of the net with 12 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on Wake Forest's first penalty corner of the match.
- Delmotte and Lanckohr both picked up assists on the goal.
Wake Forest once again denied a Duke penalty corner, their seventh of the match, at the 53rd minute as Todd made a diving stop in front of the goal.
Maxwell blocked Duke's eighth corner opportunity as Wake Forest continued to hold a 3-0 lead with two minutes remaining.

Quotables
Head Coach Jennifer Averill - "I am incredibly thrilled for our defensive penalty unit to hold the fort down and be extremely clinical with that. I think the difference in today's game was certainly taking advantage of the opportunities we had. Give credit to Duke, I thought they played a really good possession game and got inside our defense as they were extremely threatening. We need to clean up our defensive 25 as we move forward."

Up Next
Wake Forest returns to Kentner Stadium tomorrow, Oct. 3 in the team's ninth non-conference match of the season against Davidson. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start and can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

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No. 17 Wake Forest Earns Big Four, Ranked ACC Win Versus No. 22 Duke

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Team Stats

Grace Delmotte

Maggie Dickman

Rachel Thetford

Meike Lanckohr

Players Mentioned

Grace Delmotte

Maggie Dickman

Lee Ann Gordon

Meike Lanckohr

Hannah Maxwell

Brooke McCusker

Rachel Thetford

Ellie Todd

Players Mentioned

Grace Delmotte

Maggie Dickman

Lee Ann Gordon

Meike Lanckohr

Hannah Maxwell

Brooke McCusker

Rachel Thetford

Ellie Todd

Wake Forest Athletics