The top-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons are heading to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament. With the 2006 ACC Championship long past the memories of Wake Forest fans, they will have to look to the next season for hope and excitement as the 2015 season ended with another tough 3-9 record.
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Sirk was 26 of 39 for 275 yards, hit McCaffrey with touchdown passes covering 18 and 28 yards, and ran 3 yards for another score for the Blue Devils (7-5, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference).
The touchdown catch was the fourth of the season for Lewis, who finished his first season on campus with 47 receptions for 611 yards.
Devin Thomas had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Wake Forest, despite not making a field goal over the final 5 minutes 40 seconds, beat, 80-77, on Wednesday night for third place in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
What the win means for Duke: The Blue Devils were in desperate need of a win after a complete meltdown over the past four games.
Ross Martin kicked field goals of 51 and 35 yards, the latter putting Duke up 27-14 with 2:33 left. “It made it even more special”.
Sagula gave credit to Wake Forest for being “pesky” and keeping itself in a game UNC never lost control of, but couldn’t quite put away at any point. “To get that taste of a win…it makes you remember what it feels like”.
The Demon Deacons had one last-gasp chance after forcing a punt with 7 seconds left, but returner Tabari Hines fielded Will Monday’s punt at the 1 and was swarmed at the 5 with no time left.
No eight-lateral madness this time.
“I’m excited. I think we’ve got a lot of good young players in the program and learned some valuable lessons this year, at times the hard way”, he said.
Duke now awaits its postseason fate, as bowl selections will be determined December 6.
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He also can feel a little bit better heading into the unknown after a victory instead of a fifth straight loss. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re a better team, but at the end of the day, it is measured by wins and losses, and in the most important regard, we didn’t improve. We have a lot of work to get done”.
