Sports > September 11, 2008

By Gary Pasqualicchio | Contributing writer

Playing in the Hawthorne Suites Hokie Invitational last weekend, the Wake Forest women’s soccer team earned a split, topping George Washington 2-0 and falling to Texas A&M 2-1.

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Junior Caitlin Farrell dribbles the ball away from a player in the home game against Vanderbilt. The women will play in the Wake Forest Nike Tournament Sept. 12-14. (Allison Lange/Old God & Black)

Playing in the Hawthorne Suites Hokie Invitational last weekend, the Wake Forest women’s soccer team earned a split, topping George Washington 2-0 and falling to Texas A&M 2-1.

This annual tournament hosted by Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., pitted some of the best soccer programs in the nation against one another including the No. 10-ranked Lady Deacs and No. 11-ranked Texas A&M Aggies.

Going into the weekend, Head Coach Tony da Luz felt that the tournament would be an excellent simulation of NCAA tournament play pitting Wake Forest against a team like George Washington in the first round and a top team similar to the Aggies in the second.

In the tournament opener, Wake Forest (3-0) faced off against the George Washington Colonials (1-2) Sept 5.

Junior Laura Morse got the start in goal for the Lady Deacs and saved the only two shots that came her way in the first half. At the 17:15 mark, junior forward Allie Sadow scored her fourth goal of the year to put the Deacs up 1-0.

“Amanda Howell sent in a good cross and I just poked it in after a scramble near the net,” Sadow said.

Fellow junior Jill Hutchinson tacked on her fourth goal of the 2008 campaign at the 39:25 mark to increase the Wake Forest lead to 2-0 at the half. She was assisted by Sadow who finished the game with one goal and one assist.

The Lady Deacs went into the half with a dominating 10-1 advantage on shots and a 2-0 mark on the scoreboard.

Wake made several substitutions in the second half including inserting sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Barasha into the game for the final 45 minutes. She also stopped the only shot she faced from George Washington and completed the Lady Deacon’s 2-0 shutout win.

Wake Forest dominated this one for all 90 minutes including a 5-0 edge in corner kicks. With the win, the Lady Deacs improved to 4-0 on the season and set up a championship match against Texas A&M (6-1) Sept 7.

Playing against the No. 11-ranked Aggies gave Wake Forest an excellent test against a top national program.The Aggies struck first when sophomore Inge Harding scored 49 minutes into the game, getting a header past Barasha who got the start on the day and made six saves.

Junior Cydne Currie added to the A&M lead with an assist from Whitney Hooper at the 77 minute mark. Hutchinson scored an unassisted goal at the 87 minute mark with an open shot inside, but the Deacons were unable to score and equalizing goal and the Aggies won 2-1.

“It was hectic in the box,” Hutchinson said. “It actually deflected off one of our players before going in.”

The goal was Hutchinson’s team-leading fifth of the season and second of the tournament. Despite the loss, Wake played the Aggies tough only being outshot in the contest 16-13.

After the tournament, da Luz was disappointed in the result of the second game, but he felt that the team played well enough to win.

“We worked too hard in the first game (against GW),” he said. “I wanted to rest some of the girls on Friday but we never got that third goal, and it was too risky.”

He felt that the Lady Deacs had more opportunities than the Aggies. His team hit the crossbar twice and failed to convert a breakaway one-on-one in the first half.

“Other than the two they scored on, they didn’t have as many chances as we did,” da Luz said.

The now No. 12 Lady Deacs (4-1) have outscored opponents 13-3 on the season and will look to rebound Sept .12 as they host UNC-Charlotte (3-1-1) in the Wake Forest Nike Tournament. Then they will match up against Cal-State Fullerton (0-0) Sept. 14.

Coach da Luz is excited for the team’s opportunity to get more tournament-type play this weekend and feels that both teams will be tough competition.

UNC-Charlotte is the reigning champions of Conference USA and Cal-State Fullerton is the defending Big West champions.