Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Soccer Hungry For 49ers And Blue Devils
10/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 23, 2001
Wake Forest (7-5-1, 3-2-0) steps out of league play Tuesday, Oct. 23 to host regional foe, Charlotte (7-4-3) at 7:30 p.m. at Spry Stadium before travelling to Durham, NC to face ACC rival Duke (5-8, 0-5) at 7:00 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27. The Demon Deacons, back in the coaches poll this week at 21st, are ranked as high as 19th by Soccer America, as low as 22nd by Soccer Times and unranked by Soccer Buzz.
Wake Forest is led by senior forward Emily Taggart with seven goals and two assists and junior goalkeeper Erin Regan with a 0.93 goals-against average, .826 saves percentage and four shutouts in 1156:27 minutes in net.
Last Time Out
The Demon Deacons, 7-5-1 overall and 3-2 in the ACC, split a pair of conference games versus Top 20 teams at home last week, giving up a goal late in the game to fall 1-0 to No. 14 Clemson on Oct. 16 and then coming back from behind to beat No. 19 Florida State 4-2 on Oct. 20.
Stacy Roeck headed in a corner kick taken by Alena Thom to give the Deacs an early lead over Florida State last Saturday, but the Seminoles fought back and scored two goals to take the lead. A.B. Robbins headed in the game-tying goal when Alli Hunt lofted a free kick from outside the box to the left post where Katherine Winstead headed the ball to Robbins. Robbins launched the game-winner into the upper right corner when she scored with a free kick just outside the Seminoles' penalty box. Emily Taggart added the insurance goal, assisted by Winstead and Courtney McCrudden.
Charlotte 49ers
Charlotte, 7-4-3 overall and 5-1-1 in Conference USA, is coming off a loss and a tie at home last week, falling 1-0 to NC State on Oct. 16 and playing to a 2-2 tie with Saint Louis on Oct. 19. The 49ers, coached by Neil Roberts, are led by junior forward Jennie Leeder with four goals and two assists and junior goalkeeper Jenn Howell with a 0.94 goals-against average, .797 saves percentage and five shutouts in 1333:52 minutes in net.
Wake Forest leads the series 6-0-1 with Charlotte, winning the last meeting 2-1 on Sept. 12, 2000 at Transamerica Field in Charlotte. Then-sophomore Joline Charlton scored the opening goal for Wake Forest and was assisted by Liz McDowell. The last time the teams met at Spry Stadium was Oct. 13, 1999 and the Demon Deacons won 3-1. Then-sophomore Emily Taggart scored for the Deacs and was assisted by Charlton.
Alli Hunt, a freshman midfielder for the Demon Deacons hails from Charlotte, NC and went to high school at Charlotte Day. 49er freshman forward Nicole Miller calls nearby Kernersville, NC home and went to high school at East Forsyth. UNCC head coach Neil Roberts and WFU assistant coach Skip Thorp both graduated from Delaware.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke, is coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 13 Virginia on Oct. 20. The Blue Devils will travel to Raleigh, NC on Wednesday to take on NC State before hosting Wake Forest on Saturday. Head coach Robbie Church is in his first year at the helm.
The Blue Devils lead the series 5-3-1 with Wake Forest, winning the last meeting 1-0 on Oct. 4, 2000 in Winston-Salem. The last time the teams met at Koskinen Stadium was Oct. 15, 1999 and the Demon Deacons lost 3-2. Emily Taggart and Joline Charlton scored a goal each for the Demon Deacons in the losing effort.
Gabi Lieb, a junior defender for Wake Forest and Sarah Pickens, a senior forward for Duke, both went to high school at Greensboro Day in Greensboro, NC. Liz McDowell, a junior defender for the Demon Deacons hails from Lakewood, CO, as does Blue Devils Liz Wagner and Margaret Lea.
Tied For Record
Emily Taggart scored in the last game versus No. 19 Florida State, giving her a team-leading seven goals for the season and 28 career goals, tying the school's all-time scoring leader, Anne Shropshire (1996-99). A three-time All-ACC selection and three-time All-Southeast Region selection, Taggart was picked by CollegeSoccer.com as a preseason All-American prior to this season.
Injury Report
Sarah Kate Noftsinger left the North Carolina game Oct. 14 late in the game after injuring her knee. The senior midfielder from Richmond, VA sat out the next game versus Clemson Oct. 16 and symbolically started the Florida State match Oct. 20 for senior day, but did not play. Tuesday's Clemson game marked the first time Noftsinger had missed a game in her career at Wake Forest. Listed as doubtful for Tuesday's game against Charlotte and questionable for Saturday's game at Duke, Noftsinger should be back in action by next week.
Tied for the team's lead with four assists, Noftsinger has assisted a goal in the last four games that she has played in and that the Demon Deacons have scored in. She is one assist shy of cracking the school's all-time assist leaders list with 13 career assists.
Twice As Nice
A.B. Robbins scored two goals Saturday to help Wake Forest come from behind and beat No. 19 Florida State, including the game-tying goal and the game-winning goal. The sophomore defender from Richmond, VA headed in her first goal, assisted by Katherine Winstead and Alli Hunt and then drilled a free kick from just outside the Seminoles' penalty box into the upper right corner for her second goal. Robbins is now third on the team in scoring with five goals on the season.
The Solution
Stacy Roeck headed in a corner kick taken by Alena Thom in the first half of the Florida State match last Saturday to help the Demon Deacons to 4-2 victory. The senior defender-turned forward from Solana Beach, CA is second on the team in scoring with five goals and one assist on the season.
A two-time All-ACC selection, Roeck earned all-region honors last year as well. The starting sweeper for the Demon Deacons as a freshman, Roeck helped the defense hold opponents to only 1.61 goals-per-game, while scoring seven goals herself. Her sophomore year, she was a key component of a Wake Forest defense that shutout 12 teams, only allowed 18 goals and finished the season ranked 18th in the country for team defense, as the starting sweeper.
Returning at sweeper last year, head coach Tony da Luz often moved the athletic Roeck up front to help out an ailing offense, which she responded to by scoring six goals and assisting three others. Her most memorable goal was probably the game-winner she netted against eventual national champions, North Carolina.
In need of a spark up front again this season, Roeck was moved up from defender to striker five games into the season and she has delivered, scoring five goals, including two game-winners, earning Soccer America's Team of the Week honors for her accomplishments.
Her 22 career goals ranks third in the all-time scoring record books at Wake Forest. A durable player that never quits, Roeck has played in 76 of the 78 Wake Forest games over the past four years and started all but six.
Back In Cage
Erin Regan returned to net this season as the starting goalkeeper for Wake Forest after sitting out last season with a knee injury. The redshirt-junior from Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, was a first team All-ACC selection in 1999 after posting a 0.71 goals against average, 113 saves and nine shutouts.
Regan has posted 4 shutouts already, a .826 saves percentage, and has only allowed 12 goals through 13 games for a 0.93 goals-against average. In fact, all but one of those goals allowed have come from teams ranked in the national polls.
Regan is Wake Forest's all-time shutouts leader, all-time saves leader and she currently holds the school's career goals against average record.
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will return to action next week when they host Liberty in the last regular season home game on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at 7:00 p.m. at Spry Stadium before going to Charlottesville, VA to conclude the regular season with No. 13 Virginia at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 2.
