Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Soccer Goes to NCAA Championship
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
November 9, 1998
Wake Forest (13-6-1) vs. Georgia (12-5-1)
NCAA Tournament First Round
Wednesday, November 11, 1998 * 2 p.m.
DEMON DEACONS MAKE THIRD STRAIGHT NCAA APPEARANCE
The Wake Forest women's soccer team, ranked 16th in the country this week by Soccer News, will face Georgia in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship on Wednesday, November 11th in Athens, Ga. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
The Demon Deacons are making their third consecutive trip to the NCAA playoffs, having previously made appearances in 1996 and 1997.
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS
The Wake Forest women's soccer program, now in only its fifth season of competition at the varsity level, has already made a name for itself on the national level. The Demon Deacons have been ranked among the nation's top 20 teams and have earned invitations to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. Head coach Tony da Luz has a squad comprised of a number of key veterans plus a talented freshman class which led the Deacs to the NCAA's this fall.
The Wake Forest offense is led by junior Anne Shropshire, who recently moved to a forward position after seeing most of her action at midfield. Shropshire leads the squad in goals (11), assists (10) and points (32) and has set school career records in each of those three categories during the course of the season as well. A duo of seniors in forward Stefanie Mathews and midfielder Meghan Suddes also anchor the offensive attack. Suddes is third on the team with six goals while Mathews is responsible for four goals and 10 assists. Freshmen midfielders Emily Taggart, who was named the 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year, and Sarah Kate Noftsinger have entrenched themselves into the starting lineup with solid play all season while sophomore Christie Melby rounds out the midfield starting attack. The Wake Forest defense is anchored by senior Jessen Snyder, who owns a school-record 83 career starts, and freshman Stacy Roeck, who has scored six goals this season. In goal, the Deacs will turn to either freshman Erin Regan, 1.78 GAA in 1998, or senior Sari Rose, who recorded shutouts vs. Charleston, Davidson and LSU, to provide steady play as the starter from 1997, Beth Klein, works to recover from a knee injury suffered last fall.
WAKE FOREST - GEORGIA SERIES
Wake Forest and Georgia are meeting for the third time this afternoon and each of the first two games in the series have ended in a 2-2 tie.
The first meeting came in 1995 in Winston-Salem when the two teams battled to a double-overtime draw. Junior Julie Scott recorded one of the Deacs' two goals in the game.
The two teams met again last fall in Athens in a see-saw battle. The Deacons jumped on the board first with a goal from Stefanie Mathews before Georgia tied the score at 1-1 before halftime. Wake Forest took a 2-1 lead with a goal by Christie Melby in the second half before UGA tied the game at two goals apiece. The teams then played 30 minutes of scoreless overtime before the game was declared a draw.
NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Wake Forest will be making its third appearance in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship this year after earning invitations in both 1996 and 1997. The Deacons own a combined tournament record of 1-2 in two previous appearances.
The Demon Deacons made their first ever appearance in 1996 when they visited Clemson in the first round of the championship. Wake Forest earned a 2-1 victory in that game to advance to the final 16 before being eliminated at Florida by a 5-0 score.
Wake Forest made their second NCAA appearance last fall and was eleminated by eventual national champion North Carolina in the first round by a score of 6-0.
ACC TOURNAMENT RECAP
Wake Forest defeated Maryland 2-1 in a thrilling quarterfinal match last week at the ACC Tournament in Orlando, Fla. Maryland took a 1-0 lead at the 35:26 mark in the first half when Keri Sarver stole the ball from Wake Forest goalkeeper Sari Rose and put it into the empty net. The Deacs' Stacy Roeck tied the score at 1-1 in the game's 74th minute with a shot from the right corner of the box. The game appeared to be headed for overtime before the Demon Deacons mounted one last attempt on the the Maryland defense. Senior Stefanie Mathews took a long pass and dribbled down the right sideline past the Terrapin defense. She crossed the ball to Anne Shropshire who found the back of the net with a shot from the center of the box with just 0:05 remaining on the clock.
The dramatic win advanced the Deacs into the semifinals of the ACC Tournament for only the second time in school history. Wake Forest was matched up with #1-seeded North Carolina in the semis but could manage very little offense against the stout Tar Heel defense in a 2-0 loss. Roeck and Rachael Lewis were both named to the all-tournament team.
da LUZ TABBED AS ACC COACH OF THE YEAR
Wake Forest head coach Tony da Luz was selected as the 1998 ACC Coach of the Year by a vote of the league's eight head coaches. Da Luz has guided the Demon Deacons to a 13-6-1 overall record this season, including a school-best 4-2 record in ACC play. The Deacs finished fourth in the league standings this year after placing seventh in each of the last four seasons.
Now in his second season at Wake Forest, da Luz owns a 24-14-3 record as the leader of the Demon Deacons and guided the squad to the NCAA Tournament in 1997. In seven seasons overall as a head coach, da Luz has compiled a 70-56-6 record.
He came to Wake Forest after a successful five-year stint at the University of San Diego, where he led his team to the NCAA playoffs in 1996. His success at San Diego earned him West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors as well as NSCAA West Region Coach of the Year accolades in 1996.
TAGGART NAMED ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Freshman Emily Taggart was selected as the 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year after a vote by the league's eight head coaches, becoming the first Wake Forest player to earn that honor. Taggart has appeared in all 20 of the Demon Deacons' games this fall at either midfield or forward, making 18 starts as well.
Taggart owns six goals and two assists this season, ranking fifth on the team with 14 points. With her three goal performance against NC State earlier this season, Taggart became just the third player in Wake Forest history to record a hat trick. She scored a goal in her first career game at the College of Charleston and scored two goals in a 4-1 win over Duke this season.
MATHEWS, TAGGART EARN ALL-ACC HONORS
Senior forward Stefanie Mathews and freshman midfielder Emily Taggart were both selected to the 1998 All-ACC team by a vote of the league's eight head coaches.
Mathews, who became the first player in school history to earn all-conference honors last fall, repeats as a second-team All-ACC honoree. This year she ranks second on the Demon Deacon squad with ten assists and 18 points and is a key figure in the Wake Forest offensive attack. Taggart, who also garnered ACC Rookie of the Year honors, was one of two freshmen (along with Virginia's Lori Lindsey) to be named to the 22-person All-ACC squad with her selection to the second-team.
