Sports > November 20, 2008

By Hailey Robbins | Staff writer

Second-seeded Wake Forest entered the NCAA Tournament after a loss in the ACC Championship, but they are now headed to the NCAA Final Four for the ninth consecutive season after a 7-1 win over American in the first round and a 4-3 win over Virginia Nov. 16 in the quarterfinals at Kentner Stadium.

click to enlarge

Junior midfielder Regina Shannon dribbles the ball during a recent home game. (Andrea Kensy/Old Gold & Black)

“I’m very pleased with the way things are unfolding,” Head Coach Jennifer Averill said at a press conference. “We’ve had some stumbling blocks along the way that have been great and fruitful for us to learn from, and we’ve done a great job of taking apart each part of the game to reflect on and make ourselves better.”

Virginia (14-9) took a commanding lead early when Cavalier striker Paige Selenski scored her 18th and 19th goals of the season to put Virginia 2-0.

With five minutes to play before halftime, senior Michelle Kasold scored an unassisted goal to make the score 2-1.

Less than a minute later, junior Hilary Moore picked the ball off and rushed the Cavalier cage where Kasold once again capitalized to make the score 2-2.

But the Cavaliers struck again before halftime. In the 33rd minute, Kaitlyn Hiltz slipped the ball past Wake Forest goalkeeper senior Crystal Duffield to put the Cavs back in front 3-2.

The second half continued to be a battle.

Duffield recorded eight saves. Five of those eight saves came in the second half including two in one-on-one situations.

In the 58th minute Moore fired a shot through traffic and junior Raisa Schiller struck the rebound into the corner to tie the game.

With five minutes to play in regulation, junior Kim Romansky ran the ball into Virginia territory. She made a quick pass to Moore in the center of the circle and ran to the front of the cage where she was able to tap in Moore’s return cross.

The Deacons cruised in the first round, defeating American 7-1.

“It’s always a good way to start a tournament, to set the tone for what you want to do in the tournament,” junior Aileen Davis said. “We tried to start on the right foot right at the start. The score didn’t really reflect how intense the match was though.”

Five of Wake Forest’s seven goals were netted during penalty corner plays. Moore opened scoring in the game when she converted on Wake Forest’s first corner of the day. Senior Minou Gimbrere netted two goals on corners, while fellow senior Liz Fries and Moore added the fifth and sixth goals of the game on corners.

Junior Melissa Martin along with Kasold posted four assists. Kasold also scored Wake Forest’s fourth goal in the 31st minute.

American scored its only goal in the 14th minute, scoring on a penalty stroke. Anne-Meike DeWiljes netted the lone point for the Eagles.

Freshman Kaitlin Piosa netted the first goal of her career to close out scoring.

Wake Forest will play No. 3-seed Syracuse (22-1) on Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Louisville. The Orange went undefeated through the first 14 matches, won the Big East Tournament and became the first team out of the ACC to climb to the top of the NFHCA Poll for the first time since September 2004. Syracuse defeated Princeton 3-2 in double overtime in the quarterfinals.

“They’re unbelievably talented and they have that record for a reason,” Averill said. “They have an incredibly powerful attacking corner that we need to be mindful of. They have strength right up the gut so we need to keep the ball out of there. Their counterattack is extremely threatening so we need to make sure that our transition game is there.”

The stage is set for the Deacons to do what they have been preparing all season to do: win a national championship.

“It’s what we work for throughout the year and when you’ve put so much effort in starting in the summer months, it’s a big deal.” Davis said. “That’s our main goal, not just to get to the championship finals, but to actually win it.”