Sports > August 30, 2007

By Ryan Durham | Sports editor

The Wake Forest field hockey team got off to a rocky start Aug. 25 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The No. 2 ranked Deacs, who made it to the NCAA finals last year, struggled to get anything started against No. 10 Iowa.

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A Wake Forest player attempts to move the ball away from an opponent during last week’s scrimmage against the University of Virginia. The Deacs face off against UNC-Chapel Hill Aug. 31. (Ryan Durham/Old Gold & Black)

Wake Forest held up against the Hawkeyes’ attack in the first half, not allowing any goals and only four shots on goal in the first 35 minutes. However, the Deacs failed to capitalize on this success and only managed four shots of their own in the first half.

Two corners by Iowa in the second half shifted any momentum in the game away from the Deacs, as the Hawkeyes scored two goals in quick succession in the 57th and 59th minutes.

The Hawkeyes’ Lauren Pfeiffer took a penalty kick in the 65th minute of the match, putting Iowa up 3-0.

Despite outshooting Iowa 13-9, Wake Forest could not seem to find the back of the net.

This loss marks the first time the Deacs have lost a season opener since 2002, when they again lost to the Hawkeyes of Iowa.

“As hard as the loss was, it was maybe in retrospect the best thing for us,” Head Coach Jen Averill said. “I don’t think anyone likes to lose, especially this squad, but it set a tone and got us to get our game up. Physically I thought we were fine. We were just making some bad decisions, and just weren’t really executing the way we needed to.

Wake Forest took the field yet again in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Aug. 26 to face the Michigan Wolverines.

The Deacs came out of the gate quickly, scoring their first goal of the game in the 12th minute of play. Off an assist by sophomore forward Kim Romansky, senior forward Chelsea Cipriani found the back of the net to give Wake Forest an early lead.

Less than two minutes later, WakeForest found its rhythm, scoring the second goal of the night. Sophomore midfielder/forward Raisa Schiller got the ball past the Wolverine goalie, putting the Deacs up 2-0.

Michigan was determined to avoid going into the locker room down two, and finally scoring a goal in the 28th minute. The Wolverines’ Kelly Fitzpatrick snuck the ball past the Wake Forest goalie, sending the teams into the locker room with a score of 2-1.

Coming out of the locker room, the Deacs quickly scored their third goal of the night.

After missing a shot three minutes earlier, Romansky found the back of the net on a breakaway for her first goal of the season.

The Wolverines attempted to come back, scoring in the 48th minute of the game.

Off a few quick passes, Michigan’s Kristen Tiner took a quick shot through traffic to bring the Wolverines back to within one point. This would not prove to be enough, as strong defense by the Deacons ensured the Wolverines did not score another point on the night.

Wake Forest will now take its 1-1 record to Chapel Hill Aug. 31 to face the Tar Heels of UNC-Chapel Hill.

They do not return home until Sept. 12 when they play host to Radford.

“I think (this coming weekend) is a win-win situation,” said Averill.

“Carolina’s undoubtedly the best team in the country and it will give us a good measuring stick to see exactly where we are.”

“We are going to go in there and fight, and give them a good test.”