Sports > November 13, 2008

By Hailey Robbins | Staff writer

The No. 3-seeded Wake Forest field hockey team was able to pick up victories in the quarter and semifinals of the ACC Tournament, but it was unable to defeat the No.-1 seeded Maryland Terrapins for the title.

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Freshman Adelaide Knott goes after the ball against a Radford player in a recent match. The Deacs are currently preparing for the NCAA Tournament. (Andrea Kensy/Old Gold & Black)

The quarterfinal against the sixth-seeded Boston College was a back-and-forth battle. The score was tied three times before senior Michelle Kasold put the Deacons in front 4-3.

Boston College’s Chelsey Feole scored just under six minutes into the match, slipping when she beat Wake Forest senior goalkeeper Crystal Duffield from the right edge of the scoring circle.

Boston College posted five penalty corners before Wake Forest took its first, but then the Deacs earned three back-to-back penalty corners. However, they were unable to convert.

To start the second half, Bob Dirks fired on the Deacon defense and gave the Eagles a 2-1 edge. In the 46th minute, the Deacons knotted the score when junior Melissa Martin took a penalty corner that senior Liz Fries sent to Romansky who sent the ball through the crowd in front of the net where Martin made a diving slide to tap in the ball.

Just minutes later Romansky scored again, giving the Deacs a 3-2 lead with 20 minutes left to play. Boston College capitalized on a free hit to tie the score with 15 minutes remaining.

At the five minute mark, Kasold put the Deacs in front and advanced her team to the semifinals.

In the semifinals the Deacons upset the second-seeded UNC-Chapel Hill for the second time in three meetings this year.

The Lady Deacs got off to a quick start when junior Aileen Davis found the cage of a penalty corner just four minutes into the match.

With 48 seconds remaining in the first period, the Tar Heels evened the score at one apiece.

Kasold scored her second goal of the tournament in the 45th minute to put the Deacs ahead 2-1.The Heels pulled its goalkeeper with 6:28 remaining in the match, but they were unable to even the score.

“UNC has done that on several occasions with us. It was not a surprise. I knew we just needed to be patient, organized and calm,” Head Coach Jill Averill said.

The third-seeded Deacons were unable to continue their run when they ran into the No.1-seeded Maryland Terrapins in the final of the ACC Tournament.

At the 14:57 mark Maryland got on the board first when senior Danielle Keeley deflected the ball into the goal off a breakaway. Twenty-five seconds later Wake Forest answered with a goal from senior Minou Gimbrere. Romansky picked up the assist on the play. Six minutes later, junior Melissa Martin scored her ninth goal of the season to give the Deacons their first lead of the match.

In the second half Nicole Muracco broke through the Deacon defense to knot the score at 2-2. Three minutes later Maryland took the lead. Junior Raisa Schiller answered with an unassisted goal of her own to tie the score at 3-3 with 21 minutes remaining.

With 2:42 left in regulation secured the title with a goal.

“As the tournament went on we became a little bit more consistent and played stronger with each game. There were three incredibly talented teams and we did very well against all three,” Averill said.

Davis, Kasold and Fries all earned spots on the ACC All-Tournament team for their performances in Wake Forest’s three matches.

Wake Forest will host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, which is up next for the Deacs. The first game is against American University at 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 15 at Kentner Stadium.