Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Hit The Road For Falcon Invitational
8/31/1999 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 31, 1999
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's soccer team will take to the road for the first time in 1999 when the Demon Deacons travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., this weekend for the Falcon Invitational. Wake Forest will face Denver on Friday at 4 p.m. (EDT) and will square off against host Air Force on Sunday at 3 p.m.
The Demon Deacons, who are ranked 23rd nationally by the NSCAA, are 1-0 after opening the season with a convincing 5-0 win over South Carolina last Friday night at home.
Wake Forest returns eight starters from its 1998 team which went 13-7-1 overall and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. Additionally, the Demon Deacons are coming off their most successful season in ACC play, finishing in fourth place with a 4-3 record and advancing to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in '98. The Deacs are under the guidance of head coach Tony da Luz, the 1998 ACC Coach of the Year.
A GLANCE AT THE DEMON DEACONS
The Wake Forest women's soccer program, now in its sixth season of
competition at the varsity level, has made a name for itself on the
national level as one of the country's elite programs. The Demon Deacons
have been ranked among the nation's top 25 teams and earned invitations to
the NCAA Tournament in each of the past three seasons. Head coach Tony da
Luz has assembled a squad comprised of a number of key veterans plus a
talented freshman class while looking to lead the Deacs to their fourth
consecutive NCAA playoff appearance this fall.
The Wake Forest offense is led by senior forward Anne Shropshire, who led the squad in goals (11), assists (10) and points (32) during the 1998 season. One of the top scoring threats in the ACC, Shropshire owns school career records in each of those three offensive categories. Joining Shropshire in the front attack is freshman Joline Charlton, a quick and athletic player who scored a number of goals on the high school level.
The Wake Forest midfield is anchored by a duo of sophomores in Emily Taggart and Sarah Kate Noftsinger. Taggart was named the 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year and earned freshman All-America and 2nd-team All-ACC honors while netting six goals and two assists in 1998. Noftsinger started 20 games in the midfield a year ago while tallying four goals and five assists. Joining those two at midfield are junior Rachael Lewis, who had two goals and three assists in 20 games last fall, and highly touted newcomer Katie Johnson.
The Wake Forest defense will turn to sophomore Stacy Roeck, who scored seven goals 1998, to assume the role of central defender. Joining Roeck in the backfield are senior Karli Schilling, junior Colleen Bradley and freshman Liz McDowell.
In goal, the Demon Deacons have two experienced players in sophomore Erin Regan and senior Beth Klein. Regan started 14 games and posted a 1.78 GAA in 1998, while Klein owned an impressive 1.20 GAA and 6.5 shutouts as the starter in 1997 before missing the entire 1998 season with a knee injury.
SHROPSHIRE CONTINUES ASSAULT ON RECORD BOOK
Senior forward Anne Shropshire rewrote the Wake Forest record book
last season as she set new single season records for goals, assists and
points while also breaking the career marks in each of those categories,
too.
She picked up in the first game of 1999 where she left off in 1998 by netting two goals and two assists against South Carolina to add to her school record career totals. Shropshire now has 23 goals, 25 assists and 71 points in her WFU career, all school records.
FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE
Although we're just one game into the 1999 season, the talented
Wake Forest freshman class has already asserted itself as a key ingredient
during the upcoming season. In Wake Forest's 5-0 shutout of South Carolina
last weekend, three freshmen cracked the starting lineup while all three
players to come off the bench for the Deacs were also rookies.
Forward Joline Charlton made the biggest impact of the rookie class as she scored two goals and was a constant threat to do even more damage in her attacking role. Also making the starting 11 were defender Liz McDowell, who assisted a goal in the second half, and midfielder Katie Johnson. Forward Lindsey Griffin came off the bench and gave the Deacs a second half assist while defender Gabi Lieb and midfielder Tracy Chao each turned in quality minutes against the Gamecocks.
ROECK ANCHORS THE DEFENSE
With last year's sweeper Jessen Snyder lost to graduation, head
coach Tony da Luz has turned to sophomore Stacy Roeck as the Deacs' new
anchor in the backfield.
Last fall Roeck started 20 of 21 games in the backfield, scoring seven goals and adding one assist. .She was moved to the sweeper position for the 1999 season fall and immediately made her presence felt as she helped the Deacs' post a shutout in the first game of the season (a 5-0 win over South Carolina).
Although her name may not show up among the team's statistical leaders this season, Roeck may well be the most valuable player on the squad.
DEACS PICKED FOURTH IN ACC PRESEASON POLL
The Demon Deacons were predicted to finish fourth in the Atlantic
Coast Conference race this fall, according to the league's eight head
coaches, as dead coach Tony da Luz's squad earned 36 points in the poll.
Defending ACC champion North Carolina was a unanimous selection as the top pick, amassing 56 points. The Tar Heels were followed by Clemson second (42) and Virginia third (39). Duke (33), Maryland (24), NC State (12) and Florida State (11) rounded out the list.
