Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Soccer Prepares For A Hectic Week
9/6/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
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Sept. 6, 2000
Demon Deacons Take The Week Off Before Going To The Queen City: Wake Forest, takes the week off before a hectic three-game slate next week. The break comes at a good time for the Demon Deacons, who took second at the Ellis Copy Tiger Invitational last weekend in Columbia, Mo., where the heat index was in triple digits everyday. Ranked 14th in the nation with a 3-1 record, the Deacs will travel south to Charlotte, N.C. on Tuesday, Sept. 12 to play at Charlotte. The 49ers are 0-2 on the year going into weekend games versus UNC Greensboro and East Carolina. The match will be played at Charlotte?s home field, Transamerica Field at the Irwin Belk Center (capacity 4,000).
Last Time Out:The Demon Deacons are coming off a second place finish at the Ellis Copy Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo., capped off with a stunning upset loss at Missouri Sunday, Sept. 3. Wake Forest came from behind to beat Ohio State 2-1 in overtime on Friday, Sept. 1. The Deacs were then shutout by the Tigers on Sunday.
Charlotte 49ers:Charlotte, 2-2 on the season, is coming off a pair of losses at the Clemson/Nike Invitational. The 49ers fell to Auburn 2-3 in overtime on Sept. 1 and then lost 0-1 to Clemson on Sept. 3. UNCC will take on Davidson College Sept. 6 and UNC Greensboro Sept. 9, before facing the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest has played Charlotte every year since 1994 and has won every meeting except a 0-0 tie in 1995. The last time the two teams met, the Deacs triumphed, 3-1 on Oct. 13, 1999 in Winston-Salem.
Senior midfielder Jill Currie leads the 49ers with two goals and two assists (going into the Sept. 6 game at Davidson). Jennifer Howell, a sophomore goalkeeper, has started every game in net for Charlotte. Head coach Neil Roberts looks to finish first in Conference USA this year, after tying for second last season with a 13-7-2 overall record and 8-2-1 conference mark.
In The Rankings:Wake Forest is ranked 14th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and Soccer America, as high as 13th by Soccer Buzz and College Soccer Daily and as low as 17th by Soccer Times. In the regional standings, the NSCAA has the Deacs third and Soccer Buzz ranks WFU fourth.
The Demon Deacons' next opponent, Charlotte, is ranked tenth in both regional rankings. Wake Forest has nine opponents listed in the top 25 of the polls.
Nose For The Goal: Junior forward Stacy Roeck, who anchored the Demon Deacon defense the last two years at sweeper, moved up to forward this season and has responded with a team-leading three goals, three assists, 24 shots, 13 shots on goal and one game-winner through the first four games.
You Can Use Your Hands Now:When his top two goalkeepers went down in the preseason, head coach Tony da Luz scrambled to add help for remaining goalie Leslie Goelz. Sophomore Tracy Chao, a reserve defender last season gave the new position her best effort and has won the starting job. At halftime of the season opener Aug. 29 versus UNC Greensboro, Chao shed her number 20 field jersey and dawned a number zero goalkeeper jersey. She tended net the remainder of the game and shared the shutout victory with Goelz. Goelz started the next game at East Carolina and then Chao got her first career start against Ohio State on Sept. 1. She played the entire 96-minute overtime game in the triple digit temperatures and earned five saves in the victory. Chao guarded the cage Sept. 3 at Missouri as well, picking up 10 saves in a gutsy performance.
Up To Her Old Tricks:After leading the team in scoring last season, earning second team all-ACC honors and winning the ACC Rookie of the Year award, sophomore Joline Charlton is back at it. The forward from Stone Mountain, Ga., assisted a pair of first half goals Aug. 29 at East Carolina and then scored one herself with a minute remaining in the match. In the next match versus Ohio State at Missouri?s tournament, Charlton sparked the Deacs comeback scoring the game-tying goal with under six minutes left in regulation, forcing overtime.
Play of the Week:The horn sounded to end the game Sept. 1 between Wake Forest and Ohio State, but after 90 minutes of action the score was tied 1-1. Six minutes into sudden death overtime the Demon Deacons ended the game when Stacy Roeck tapped a cross by Colleen Bradley to Sarah Kate Noftsinger, who buried it into the net for the game-winning goal. Noftsinger, a junior midfielder from Richmond, Va., has one goal on the season and eight for her career.
Next Up:Upon the return from Charlotte, Wake Forest will host the Nike Invitational the following weekend Sept. 15, 17 at Spry Stadium. Missouri, Virginia Tech and California will all come to play and the action begins Friday, Sept. 15 at 5:00 p.m. when the Tigers and the Hokies square off followed by Wake Forest and California going at it at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Bears and the Tigers will face off at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 17 before Wake Forest takes on Virginia Tech at 1:00 p.m.
