Wake Forest Athletics
Women's Soccer Opens Versus UNC Wilmington
8/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 25, 2005
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Winston-Salem, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's soccer team opens the season on Friday at home against UNC Wilmington. The Demon Deacons and Seahawks are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. at Spry Stadium on the Wake Forest campus. Deacon fans can keep up with all the action live with Gametracker.
Series History
In the only other meeting between the schools, the Deacons downed the Seahawks in Wilmington by a score of 6-0 in the second game of the 1995 season. Wake Forest is 5-0-3 in season opening games under head coach Tony da Luz. The Deacs under da Luz are also 7-1-0 in home openers.
Deacons split exhibition games
During the preseason, the Deacs played two exhibition games. The Deacons opened at Ohio State and came away with a 3-1 victory. Senior forward Sarah Kozey kicked in a goal courtesy of a header from senior midfielder Mel Schneider. Junior forward Elizabeth Remy netted a penalty kick and junior midfielder Kristen Kemp headed in a goal from an Ashley Burney throw-in.
The Deacons did not fare as well when they hosted the Texas Longhorns. Texas scored two early goals both due to defensive lapses. The Deacs had several scoring opportunities but could only manage one goal. The lone tally came from freshman midfielder Amanda Lebo who knocked in a hooking ball into the right hand corner of the goal. Kozey and junior defender Jayme Leigh Cargnoni each registered an assist on the goal. For the game, the Deacons outshot the Longhorns by a 16-5 total including an 11-3 advantage of shots on goal.
Changing places
Several Deacons have changed positions from last year. Most notably is junior Kaitlyn Doe. Doe moved from her defensive spot in the field into the goalkeeper position. She will battle returning keeper Heather Currie for the starting position.
Junior Jayme Leigh Cargnoni moved from the midfield to the back and will see time as an attacking defender.
Sophomores Ashley Spooner, defender to forward, and Megan Upchurch, forward to defender, also changed positions from 2004.
Wake returns top scorers
Out of the 34 goals scored last year, the Deacs return players that accounted for 33 of the scores. Sarah Kozey (12 goals), Elizabeth Remy (seven goals) and Melanie Schneider (six goals) finished 2004 as the leading scorers. Juniors Jayme Leigh Cargnoni and Kristen Kemp netted two goals last season.
Kozey's assault on the record books
Senior forward Sarah Kozey enters the season just three goals shy of setting a new career record. Kozey, with 27 career goals, trails Emily Taggert (29 goals; 1998-01) and Anne Shropshire (28 goals; 1996-99). Kozey's 12 goals in 2004 tied for the most goals scored in a season with Liz Burnette who netted 12 in 1996.
Kozey also ranks third in career points with 68, trailing Shropshire (85 points) and Taggert (76 points). The senior forward also ranks fifth on the career shots list.
In the polls
Once again, the Deacons are tabbed as one of the top teams in the nation. Both the adidas/NCSAA and Soccer Buzz Magazine preseason polls ranked the Deacs 21st. Soccer Buzz also ranked Wake Forest fourth in the Southeast region.
Another year, another tough road
The Deacs will have yet another tough schedule in 2005. The Deacons will host three of the top-five preseason teams in the nation including No. 2 North Carolina, No. 4 Virginia and No. 5 Santa Clara.
Duke, ranked 12th, and Boston College, ranked 16th, also represent the ACC in the adidas/NCSAA poll. Clemson and Maryland received votes.
Deacs again picked to finish seventh
Wake Forest was selected to finish seventh in the ACC coaches poll. Last season, the Deacons finished in a tie for fifth with a 4-4-1 conference record. The Deacons' overall record stood at 10-7-2.
Another talented class
Each of the last two seasons, da Luz has brought in record numbers of players in recruiting classes. While this season only six players are new faces, the talent level is very high. Soccer Buzz ranked the Deacons freshmen class 29th nationally.
Amanda Lebo was a top-25 selection, while Amy Smerdzinski was ranked in the top-100 players. The class is rounded out by Erin Baldwin, Whitney Berry, Christy Carter and Camelyn Dillon.
Nine in a row
In 2004, the Demon Deacons earned their ninth straight trip to the NCAA tournament. Facing UAB in the first round, the Deacs fell 2-0.
They come from all around
The Wake Forest women's soccer team has players from all across the nation, representing 12 different states and Canada. North Carolina has five representatives and California has four girls. Three Deacons hail from Texas. Georgia, Colorado, Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania each have two players. Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Michigan each have one player. Two players hail from Canada, one from Nova Scotia and the other from Ontario.
da Luz keeps winning
Deacon coach Tony da Luz has yet to experience a losing season at the helm of the women's soccer team. da Luz has 93-60-14 mark in eight years of coaching Wake Forest. For his career, da Luz has a record of 139-102-18. His 139 wins places him 48th all-time among active NCAA Division I coaches.
Up next
Following the Seahawks, the Deacons will travel to Davidson to face the Wildcats on Sunday August 28. The game will kick off at 7 p.m. The Deacons will then host the Wake Forest/ACC/WCC Challenge. Wake Forest will host Santa Clara on September 2 following the Virginia Tech-San Diego match. On September 4, the WFU will play San Diego and Virginia Tech will battle Santa Clara.
