Rader’s Early Brace Pushes No. 7 Duke Past WFU, 2-1

Thursday, October 6

Durham, N.C.

7 P.M.

Duke University

9-3-0, 4-1-0

Wake Forest

8-3-2, 2-3-0

Wake Forest

Duke

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Rader’s Early Brace Pushes No. 7 Duke Past WFU, 2-1

10/6/2022 10:44:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score BOX SCORE (PDF)CHURCH INTERVIEW RADER INTERVIEW PHOTO GALLERY

DURHAM – Duke women's soccer freshman Kat Rader scored two goals over the first 13 minutes of the match to lead the seventh-ranked Blue Devils to a 2-1 ACC victory over Wake Forest on Thursday evening in Koskinen Stadium. Senior goalkeeper Ruthie Jones added two huge saves for Duke late in the second half to keep the Demon Deacons off the board.

Rader's brace was a career-high for the rookie from Stuart, Fla. She also collected her team-best third game-winning goal of the season to improve Duke to 9-3-0, 4-1-0 in the ACC. Wake Forest dropped to 8-3-2, 2-3-0.

How It Happened
•   Duke registered its earliest goal of the season in the third minute to open the match. Maggie Graham grabbed the ball at midfield and sent a pass to Olivia Migli, who found freshman Kat Rader in front of the goal for her sixth tally of the season at the 2:33 mark.
•   Less than 10 minutes later, Rader added another goal as she hit the back right corner of the net off an assist from Michelle Cooper.
•   After the Blue Devils gave the ball away at the top of the box, Wake Forest made the Blue Devils pay for it at the 26:18 mark as Giovanna DeMarco hit the bottom left corner of the net to cut the Duke lead to 2-1.
•   At the 32:29 mark, Wake Forest headed the ball off a corner kick that went off the Duke crossbar, but the Blue Devils were then able to clear it out of the box.
•   With 45 minutes into action, Duke and Wake Forest were knotted at 3-3 in shots.
•   The Blue Devils went on to outshoot the Demon Deacons, 10-3, in the second half.
•   Rader had another great chance off a free kick at the 52:03 mark that just barely went above the crossbar.
•   At the 71:18 mark, Emily Morris found an opening at the top of the box and fired a shot at the right corner of the goal, but Duke goalkeeper Ruthie Jones made a diving stop to her left.
•   With 38 seconds remaining, Jones came up big again for the Blue Devils by leaping to make a save off a free kick by Morris from 20 yards out.
•   For the match, Duke held a 13-6 advantage in shots.

Notes
•   Heading into the match, Wake Forest had allowed only six goals all season. Duke scored two in the first half, which was a season-high allowed for the Demon Deacons.
•   With her 90 minutes played on the night, Delaney Graham now owns 7803 minutes played, which is tied for second on Duke's all-time charts along with Natasha Anasi. Graham also started her 92nd career match with the Blue Devils, which is a new school record passing Tara Campbell (91).
•   Michelle Cooper now owns 53 points over her first two seasons at Duke, which is tied for the Duke record along with Caitlin Connolly (1989-90).
•   Cooper has now registered at least one point in 21-of-29 career matches at Duke.
•   Graham sang the national anthem prior to tonight's contest.
•   In seven home Duke matches, the Blue Devils have now scored 10-of-13 goals in the first half.

Quotes
"I thought we were really good. Obviously, we came out and started very strong scoring the first two goals. I thought we had complete control of the game and Wake Forest does what Wake Forest does – they cause chaos. They have a good team, a really good team. It was a really good ACC game. You have to win those games."    – Duke head coach Robbie Church

"Ruthie would like to have that ball back (the goal WFU scored), but I was so proud of her as she moved on and had two big-time saves at the end of the game. I think they only had three shots in the second half and she had to make two really good saves. It was a really good win and a big three points for us." – Duke head coach Robbie Church

Next Match
Duke will close a three-match homestand on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m., as the Blue Devils host Pittsburgh at 1 p.m., at Koskinen Stadium. The match will be aired live on ACC Network Extra.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils women's soccer, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeWSOC".

#GoDuke