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5 p.m.
Men's Soccer
at California
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Friday, September 8
Winston Salem, N.C.
7:00 p.m.
Duke University
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at
3
Wake Forest
Grella Nets Two Goals To Lead Blue Devils To 4-3 Win Over Wake Forest
9/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sophomore Mike Grella scored a pair of second half goals as sixth-ranked Duke overcame a 2-1 halftime deficit to post a 4-3 win over seventh-ranked Wake Forest on Friday at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C. Juniors Spencer Wadsworth and Michael Videira also netted goals and Joe Germanese added a pair of assists for the Blue Devils. Duke moves to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in ACC play with the win, while Wake Forest slips to 4-1 and 0-1.
"This was a classic ACC battle," said head coach John Rennie. "Our guys showed a lot of character in coming back to tie the game and then win it in regulation and Mike [Grella] scored two brilliant goals to help make it happen."
Duke struck first in the contest with 21:47 gone by in the opening half when Wadsworth recorded his third goal of the season off a pass from Germanese. Wake Forest knotted the score at 1-1 just under 10 minutes later on a Marcus Tracy goal. Jamie Franks fed Tracy with a long pass up the right side on the goal.
Wake Forest took a 2-1 lead at the 37:06 mark on a goal by Zack Schilawski. Schilawski, who had subbed in for Tracy at the 32:49 mark, redirected a thru ball from Steven Curfman into the back of the net for his second goal of the season. The Demon Deacons held Duke scoreless in the final eight minutes to take a 2-1 lead into halftime.
After a 30-minute scoring draught to start the second half, Duke tied the match on Grella's first goal of the night. The Glen Cove, N.Y., native, received a pass from Germanese and chipped a shot over charging Wake Forest goalie Brian Edwards from 12 yards out in the 75th minutes of action.
Wake Forest countered just over three minutes later when Ryan Solle slipped a penalty kick by Duke keeper Justin Papadakis. The Demon Deacons were awarded the penalty kick after Lyle Adams was taken down in the box after receiving a pass from Austin de Luz.
Duke again fought back to tie the contest at 3-3, when Videira scored on a header off a corner kick by Zach Pope at the 80:48 mark. The goal by Videira, a Hermann Trophy candidate, was his fourth, while Pope collected his fifth assist of the season on the play.
The Blue Devils regained the lead in the 83rd minute when Grella received a Chris Loftus pass and ripped a shot off the crossbar and straight down into goal for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Four of Grella's goals, including his final goal on Friday, have been game-winners for the Blue Devils. Grella, who entered the contest ranked ninth nationally in points per game (2.50 ppg), now has 14 points on the year.
Duke had two more scoring opportunities over the final seven minutes but Edwards came up with two nice saves to keep Wake Forest in the match. The Demon Deacons mounted one final scoring chance in the 88th minute only to have a shot by Wells Thompson hit the post and caromed away from goal.
For the game, Duke had 12 shots and eight corners, while Wake had 13 shots and just two corner kicks. Papadakis came up with four saves, all in the second half for the Blue Devils. Edwards also had four saves for the Demon Deacons.
Duke returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 12 with a 7:00 p.m. ACC tilt against Virginia Tech at Koskinen Stadium.
Players Mentioned
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