Wake Forest Opens Season At Georgia
9/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 1, 2001
The Wake Forest women's soccer team kicks off its 2001 campaign Sunday, Sept. 2 at 2:00 p.m. at Georgia Soccer Stadium in Athens, GA, when the 22nd ranked Demon Deacons take on the Georgia Bulldogs. Wake Forest returns 14 letterwinners, all but one starter and 97 percent of its scoring from last year's 11-8-2/4-3-0 team that tied for second place in the ACC, advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and was ranked 23rd in the final poll.
Last Time Out
The Demon Deacons went undefeated in their two preseason exhibition matches, beating AFC Lightning 4-2 on Aug. 25 and crushing Elon 6-1 on Aug. 27. Sophomore midfielder Katherine Winstead led the team in scoring with four goals and one assist. Junior goalkeeper Erin Regan posted a 1.20 goals against average with three saves in 150 minutes.
Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia (1-0) is coming off a 2-1 overtime victory over Rutgers at home in its season opener Friday. Jessica Winton netted the golden goal. In their only exhibition match, the Bulldogs played No. 16 Florida State to a 1-1 tie in a three 30-minute period game with no overtime. Senior forward Amy Berbary, returns along with 10 other letterwinners and 6 starters from last year's 11-9-2/4-4-1 team that went to the finals of the SEC Championship. Berbary led the squad in scoring last year with eight goals and two assists. Head coach Sue Patberg (UMass, 1989) begins her second year at the helm of the Red & Black. Her recruiting class this year was ranked 17th in the nation by Soccer Buzz, one place higher than Wake Forest. The Bulldogs lead the series with Wake Forest 1-0-2, knocking the Demon Deacons out of the NCAA Tournament in the last meeting, 5-2 on Nov. 11, 1998 in the Athens, GA first round matchup. The first two meetings between the two teams both resulted in 2-2 ties. Sunday's game will be a homecoming of sorts for three Demon Deacons who hail from the Peach State. Joline Charlton (Stone Mountain), Melissa Murray-Hobbs (Atlanta) and April Raymer (Marietta) all have friends and former teammates who attend UGA. Georgia only has one North Carolina native on its roster. Freshman forward Charlotte Harris shares the same first name as her hometown - Charlotte. Wake Forest 2001 Women's Soccer September 1 Notes
Hats Off
Wake Forest midfielder Katherine Winstead scored a goal last Saturday in a preseason exhibition match versus AFC Lightning. She followed that up two nights later in an exhibition game against Elon with three goals and an assist. The sophomore from Raleigh, NC netted the game-winning goal of the 6-1 victory, added another a few minutes later, then with her back to the goal she popped her third goal with her heel for the hat trick. Winstead followed that up with assisting the Demon Deacons' next goal. Only three players have ever recorded a hat trick in Wake Forest history: Julie Scott, Liz Burnette twice and Emily Taggart has three (Winstead's doesn't count because it was an exhibition game).
Back In The Cage
Erin Regan will return 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 looked sharp in the two preseason matches, making two saves and only allowing two goals. Her backup keepers, redshirt-freshmen Kenna Healy and Colleen Vena, who both recovered from injuries that caused them to also take medical redshirts last year. Who did play goalie for Wake Forest last year? Tracy Chao, a junior from Raleigh, NC, will return to the field as a defender this season after filling the void in net last year for the Demon Deacons. After losing all its goalkeepers last year before the season even began, Wake Forest held an intrasquad tryout for the position and the 5-5 Chao won the starting job, despite never playing goalie in her life. She learned quick and with the help of a tough Demon Deacon defense, Chao finished the year with a 1.52 goals against average, a .746 saves percentage and 3 shutouts - including an Oct. 27 1-0 win over eventual national champions, North Carolina.
Back In Action
Not only will the goalkeepers be returning this year from season-ending injuries, but the rest of the field players that had their seasons cut short last year will be back as well. Lindsey Griffin, who scored five goals in the first eight games last season, has fully recovered from her knee injury and is back at forward. The junior from Englewood, CO, led the team with eight assists her freshman year and then turned into a deadly shooter as a sophomore. Griffin had one attempt this preseason and made it count, scoring against Elon in the last exhibition match. Roxanne Chow is back after two surgeries on her knee last year. The senior defender played in nine games, starting six before tearing her ACL. Joline Charlton was second on the team in scoring last year with eight goals and three assists, despite missing the entire postseason with mono. The 1999 ACC Rookie of the Year, Charlton is a two-time All-ACC selection and led the team in scoring in 1999 as a true freshman. A speedy forward from Stone Mountain, GA, Charlton scored a goal and assisted another this preseason.
Emily Taggart
Emily Taggart begins her senior season at Wake Forest and looks to go out with a bang. The forward from Pleasanton, CA, led the team in scoring last year with nine goals and six assists. A three-time All-ACC and three-time All-Region selection, Taggart needs just seven goals to tie and eight to become the school record holder for career goals. The 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year was named honorable mention preseason All-American by CollegeSoccer.com this summer. Taggart came off the bench in both preseason exhibition matches to take opponents by surprise. She launched seven shots, scored a goal and picked up two assists in the two games.
Rookie Attack
After first glance at the new class of freshmen, Courtney McCrudden stands out of a very talented crop of rookies. McCrudden, a forward from Voorhees, NJ, started both exhibition matches and picked up two assists against Elon. April Raymer and Alli Hunt both saw significant minutes in both matches. Kathleen Andrews, Lauren Claytor, Sara Creighton, Meagan Mullins, Colleen Vena and Nina D'Alleinne all got in the last period of the Elon match and did nothing but improve their stock.
Cagle Leaves, Suddes Returns
Another newcomer to the Demon Deacons this year is assistant coach Meghan Suddes. She fills the void left from four-year assistant Kelly Walbert Cagle, who resigned last spring to play professionally for the Atlanta Beat in the WUSA. Suddes, a former player at Wake Forest joins assistant coach Skip Thorp to complete da Luz's cabinet. Suddes played four years under da Luz, two at San Diego and two at Wake Forest. A skilled forward, Suddes tallied 24 goals and eight assists in her career.
Century Mark
Head coach Tony da Luz is three wins away from reaching 100 career victories. In only nine seasons da Luz has amassed a 97-71-9 record, including 51 wins at Wake Forest in the last four years. The 1998 ACC Coach of the Year, da Luz has taken the Demon Deacons to the NCAA Tournament every year that he has been at Wake Forest.
Up Next
Wake Forest will return home next weekend to host the Wake Forest Nike Tournament Sept. 7, 9. Four nationally ranked teams make up this year's field as No. 16 Florida State and No. 22 Wake Forest will take turns playing No. 6 Santa Clara and No. 3 Portland at Spry Stadium. FSU and Portland will kick things off Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Wake Forest will host Santa Clara at 7:30 p.m. FSU and Santa Clara will meet Sunday at noon, followed by WFU and Portland.