Wake Forest Hosts Nike Tournament This Weekend
9/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 7, 2001
Wake Forest (0-0-1) opens its home season this weekend with the 2001 Wake Forest Nike Tournament. The tournament field will include four top 20 teams, as the Demon Deacons host No. 5 Portland, No. 7 Santa Clara and No. 13 Florida State. Florida State and Portland will kick things off Friday, Sept. 7 at 5:30 p.m., followed by Wake Forest versus Santa Clara. On Sunday, Sept. 9, Santa Clara will dual Florida State at noon and Wake Forest will battle Portland afterwards.
Last Time Out
The Demon Deacons played Georgia to a scoreless draw in the season opener Sunday, Sept. 2 in Athens, GA. The Bulldogs outshot Wake Forest 9-5, but nothing got past either goalkeeper in the 90 minutes of regulation, or the two 15-minute overtimes - resulting in a 0-0 tie. Erin Regan, the junior goalkeeper for the Deacs, collected seven saves as she posted the shutout.
Wake Forest (0-0-1) fell out of the coaches poll this week, but is ranked 20th by both Soccer America and Soccer Times and 21st by Soccer Buzz.
Santa Clara Broncos
Santa Clara (2-0) is coming off a pair of season-opening shutout victories last weekend. The Broncos, ranked as high as 5th by Soccer Times, low as 10th by Soccer Buzz and 7th in the coaches poll, beat Cal Poly 3-0 Friday, Aug. 31 at home and then went on an 8-0 rampage at San Jose State on Sunday, Sept. 2.
Junior midfielder Aly Wagner leads the team with two goals and three assists. Starting goalkeeper, freshman Alyssa Sobolik has two saves and no goals against in 79 minutes in net.
The Broncos lead the series with Wake Forest 1-0, winning the last meeting, 4-1 on Oct. 1, 2000 at the Santa Clara adidas Classic in Santa Clara, CA. Emily Taggart netted a goal to give the Deacs a 1-0 lead, but with less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half, the Broncos unleashed a flurry of shots, scoring three goals before halftime. Holding Wake Forest to only two shots per half, the Deacons were unable to rally and Santa Clara added a fourth goal in the second period.
A strange stomach virus tore through the Demon Deacon camp over the weekend spent in the Golden State, wiping out virtually half of the travel party. The vomiting started early Saturday morning, continuing throughout Sunday - sending five of the Deacs to the hospital to get rehydrated.
Santa Clara senior defender Danielle Slaton and assistant coach Brandi Chastain arrived late to last year's game between the Demon Deacons and the Broncos. Slaton and Chastain's flight from Sydney, Australia got them and their silver medals to the game about halftime after they had finished playing with the U.S. Olympic team. They are both scheduled to arrive to this years match on time.
Portland Pilots
Portland (1-1) split a pair of games last weekend at the Cal State-Fullerton Fila Classic. The Pilots, ranked as high as 3rd by Soccer America and Soccer Times and as low as 5th in the coaches poll, lost 1-0 to #2 UCLA in their opener Saturday, Sept. 1 and beat Cal State Fullerton 3-2 on Monday, Sept. 3.
Freshman forward Christine Sinclair and junior midfielder Erin Misaki lead the team with one goal and one assist each. Sophomore goalkeeper Darci Carruthers started versus UCLA and junior Lauren Arase tended net versus CS-Fullerton.
The Pilots lead the series with Wake Forest 1-0, winning the last meeting 4-1 on Sept. 13, 1998 at the Portland adidas Classic in Portland, OR. Current senior Sarah Kate Noftsinger assisted Wake Forest's lone goal and redshirt-junior Erin Regan made nine saves that day.
Portland made it to the Final Four last year, the Pilots' fifth trip in the past seven years.
Back In The Cage
Erin Regan returns 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 posted a shutout in her first game back, collecting seven saves against Georgia. Her backup keepers, redshirt-freshmen Kenna Healy and Colleen Vena, have both recovered from injuries that caused them to also take medical redshirts last year and are ready.
Who did play goalie for Wake Forest last year? Tracy Chao, a junior from Raleigh, NC, returns 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 do the goalkeepers return this year from season-ending injuries, but the rest of the field players that had their seasons cut short last year are 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 led the team with two shots at Georgia.
Taggart On Track
Emily Taggart begins her senior season at Wake Forest with more speed and strength than ever. 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, got the starting call in the season opener at Georgia and fired off a shot against the Bulldogs. April Raymer, Alli Hunt and Sara Creighton came off the bench to give the Deacs a lift at Georgia.
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 head west next weekend for its annual trip to California. The destination for the Demon Deacons is Los Angeles, for the Loyola Marymount Fila Invitational. Wake Forest will take on Southern California at 1:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday, Sept. 14 and then face the host team, Loyola Marymount at 2:00 p.m. (PT) on Sunday, Sept. 16.
