Sports > November 1, 2007

By Hailey Robbins | Staff writer

The No. 3 Wake Forest Demon Deacons toppled No. 12 ACC rival Boston College in a heated Parent’s Weekend match, 3-2.

The Deacons advanced to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in ACC play, while Boston College fell to 12-7 and 1-4.

The Deacons began the game honoring seniors Chelsea Cipriani and Lauren Love, while both parents and fans gathered.

Immediately effected by the dedication of the game to the seniors, the Deacons took control and offered several shots at the Boston goalkeeper, Julia Berkowitz, who made four saves, keeping the game zero-all.

At the 13:44 mark, the Deacons capitalized on a corner shot from junior Minou Gimbrere, which was blocked, and quickly rebounded by freshman Emily Cummings, before being knocked in by sophomore Melissa Martin. This marked Martin’s seventh goal of the season.

With a strong backfield, the Deacons held Boston College without a single shot for more than 20 minutes of play, when on a botched corner the Eagles took control and shot three times consecutively, all blocked by powerhouse goalie junior Crystal Duffield.

Minutes before the end of the first half, at the 30:06 mark, BC tied the score 1-1 off a penalty corner, its first of the game.

“It was a good first half, we definitely had good ball speed, one of the things we worked a lot on in practice,” Cummings said.

With a fiery offensive surge at the 49:52 mark, Cummings drive from the top of the circle proved too much for Berkowitz, boosting the Deacons 2-1.

Continuing to dominate with their offensive surge, sophomore Regina Shannon scored at the third goal for the Deacons at the 58:26 mark off a deflection from Martin’s shot off the penalty corner, awarded after the goalie fell on the ball, a call that should have been a stroke.

“We slipped a little defensively the second half – we tried to really press Boston and that caused them to cough some balls up, because they didn’t really know what to do but we definitely slipped towards the end,” Martin said.

On a rapid breakaway with just seconds left on the clock, Boston College attacker Chelsey Feole took on Duffield alone, clearing past Duffield as she stepped out of the cage and shot, which was blocked by a spectacular dive from freshman Liza Casella from across the field.

“I knew I had to get back – I had already been beat and needed to recover. I didn’t think she was going to hit it that hard, my face was right by her stick when she hit it,” Casella said.

With just 12 seconds left on the clock, Feole’s botched shot was awarded a penalty stroke, which narrowed the Deacons’ lead to just one goal as time expired. “With two minutes left we should have done a better job of sealing (our victory),” Head Coach Jen Averill said. “We didn’t do a good job of possessing, and they caught us flat, although we did have a much better second half. We just needed to capitalize more.”

In one of the most offensive surges of the season, the Deacons outshot their opponents 28 to 9, including 16-3 in the second half alone. “The 3-2 score was really not sufficient to show how well we played,” Martin said.

The field hockey team next travels to the ACC Championship, where the Deacons take on Duke University.