Women's Soccer Hosts Liberty Thursday In Home Opener
9/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Game Notes
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Sept. 2, 2003
Game #3
- Wake Forest (0-1-1) vs. Liberty (0-2-0)
- Thursday, September 4
- Winston-Salem, N.C.
- W. Dennie Spry Stadium
- 7:00 p.m.
All-Time Series
Wake Forest and Liberty have met just two times in the all-time series. The Demon Deacons have captured both meetings - by an aggregate score of 12-1. Wake Forest blanked Liberty, 6-0, in their last meeting on October 30, 2001. In addition to Liberty, the Deacs have faced four current or former members of the Big South Conference. Wake Forest has an all-time record of 7-1-0 against the league. In fact, the Demon Deacons have outscored Big South foes, 30-4, in those eight matches.
Team Record Last MeetingLiberty 2-0-0 W, 6-0 (Oct. 30, 2001)Campbell 1-0-0 W, 2-0 (Oct. 25, 1994)*Elon 2-0-0 W, 5-0 (Sept. 3, 2002)UNC Asheville 1-1-0 L, 0-2 (Oct. 29, 1996)UNC Wilmington 1-0-0 W, 6-0 (Sept. 5, 1995)
* Elon was a member of the Big South Conference from 1997-2002
Last Time Out
Storrs, Conn. -- The Wake Forest women's soccer team played step-for-step with #6 Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish used a pair of second-half goals to pull away for a 3-0 victory over the Demon Deacons in women's college soccer action from the UConn adidas Soccer Classic Sunday afternoon.
Wake Forest (0-1-1) nearly entered halftime scoreless, but Jill Krivacek gave Notre Dame a 1-0 lead with just 26-seconds remaining in the first-half. Despite the deflating end to the opening stanza, the Demon Deacons were in a good position heading into the second 45-minutes.
Notre Dame (2-0-0), which routed Hartford 9-1 in their season opener Friday night, would put the game out of reach with a pair of goals in the game's final 25-minutes. Mary Boland extended the lead to 2-0 with a goal at the 64:13 mark. Boland buried the rebound attempt after Wake Forest goalkeeper Kenna Healy stopped Amanda Guertin's initial shot.
Amy Warner put the final touch on the victory for the Fighting Irish with an unassisted goal just 10-seconds from the final whistle.
Healy, who registered a shutout in the Demon Deacons opening game of the season, did allow three goals, but still managed to record seven saves in defeat. Erika Bohn made five saves for Notre Dame in the shutout effort.
Scouting The Flames
Liberty enters the matchup with Wake Forest at 0-2-0 on the 2003 campaign. The Flames have dropped a pair of 2-0 matches to UNC Wilmington and East Carolina. Liberty was even heading into halftime of both matches, but allowed two second-half goals in each of the contests. The Flames, 2001 Big South Champions, were picked second in the 2003 Preseason Big South Conference Coaches Poll. Liberty returns six starters from last season's squad that went 7-8-2 overall and 5-0-1 in the league.
Tony's Take On Liberty
"We definitely look forward to play at home. We need to improve on some things, especially in the attack. It is not where it needs to be, but we will work on that in practice and get it ready for Liberty."
Tony's Take On The UConn Match
"We really played very well on Friday night. Connecticut is a very good team with tremendous depth and experience. For us to get a positive result in their home opener, in that environment, I am pretty happy. We had a number of chances to win the game, but we were unable to get a goal. Overall, with all the young kids and the caliber of opponent, I am extremely happy with the performance."
Tony's Take On The Notre Dame Match
"Playing Notre Dame with just one day rest was tough. They were ready for us. They came hard at us from the start, but we made them work for everything. I was dissapointed we gave up that late goal in first-half, but it was a great measuring stick. Fatigue definitely set in through the second-half, but we are not far off."
Back-to-Back Top-10 Foes
The Demon Deacons always play a schedule full of nationally ranked opponents, but this weekend was the first time since the 2001 season that Wake Forest faced consecutive foes ranked in the top-10. Wake Forest faced #7 Santa Clara and #5 Portland at the 2001 Wake Forest adidas Soccer Classic.
Scoring Drought
After this weekend's action, Wake Forest has yet to score a goal in 200-minutes of play. It marked the first time since the first two games of the 2001 season (Sept. 3 vs. Georgia/Sept. 9 vs. Santa Clara) that the Deacs were blanked in consecutive outings.
Healy Shines In Third Career Start
Kenna Healy was a definite bright spot for Wake Forest in the scoreless tie with #8 UConn on Aug. 29. In just her third career start, the junior registered 10 saves on the night - including three in the second overtime session. Healy has now recorded two shutouts in those three career starts.
Newcomers Already In The Fold
Wake Forest wasted little time throwing its freshmen class into the mix. The Deacons had three freshmen (Keisha Garrick, Elizabeth Remy, Lindsey Jaco) in the starting lineup for both games this past weekend at the UConn adidas Women's Soccer Classic. In addition, Wake Forest's first four substitutes in each match were freshman (Taylor Toombs, Tara Caldwell, Kaitlyn Doe, Tracie Abbott).
New Faces ... Same Expectations
The word "rebuilding" has been tossed around by some outside the Wake Forest women's soccer program in regards to the upcoming 2003 season. With the loss of seven seniors - including five starters - some might think that is the case, but with the addition of 13 talented freshmen and the return of 11 letterwinners the Deacons will make another run at the NCAA Tournament.
Deacons Picked Seventh
Wake Forest was picked seventh in the 2003 ACC Women's Soccer Coaches Poll. North Carolina was the odds-on-favorite according to the coaches. The Tar Heels garnered seven of the eight first place votes. Virginia received the only other first place vote. The Cavaliers were chosen second, followed by Florida State, Clemson, Maryland, Duke, the Deacons and NC State.
Wake Returns Top Three Scorers ... But
The Deacons return its top three scorers from last season, Katherine Winstead, Alena Thom and Sarah Kozey, but two of those three will move into the defense this season. Winstead and Thom will anchor, along with Keisha Garrick and Melanie Schneider, the back four. Kozey will see most of her time on the outside.
Healy Takes Over Between Pipes
After two seasons behind Erin Regan, Healy will open the 2003 season as the starting goalkeeper for the Deacons. The junior has played in just five games over her first two seasons.
Lucky Number 13
Wake Forest welcomes 13 freshmen - the largest freshman class in the history of the program - in 2003.
Robbins Moves Up
Senior A.B. Robbins developed into one of the better marking backs in the entire ACC over the past three seasons, but Robbins will push up into an attacking role this season. Robbins, who scored five goals from the back last season, gives Wake Forest some much needed size and strength in the attacking third.
Wake Forest And Season Openers
After their season opening tie with #8 UConn, the Deacons are 6-2-2 all-time in their season openers. Wake Forest has not lost a season opener since it dropped the first game of the 1995 season. The Deacons lost at #4 Duke, 2-1.
Wake Forest Lands 26th Best Recruiting Class
Not only was the 2003 recruiting class the largest in Wake Forest history, but it was also recognized by SoccerBuzz Magazine as the 26th best in the entire country.
Up Next
Wake Forest will not return to action until Sept. 9 on the road at Davidson. The Demon Deacons lead the all-time series with the Wildcats, 7-1-0. In fact, Wake Forest has captured the last six meetings in the all-time series - allowing just one goal in those matches.
