Wake Forest Athletics
10th-ranked Women's Soccer Travels to Greensboro Friday
9/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 15, 2005
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Winston-Salem, N.C. -
Deacons, Spartans set to battle
The 10th-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team returns to the state of North Carolina to face nearby UNC Greensboro. The two teams meet at UNC Greensboro Soccer Stadium with kickoff at 7 p.m. on Friday.
The match marks the ninth meeting between the two schools. Wake Forest holds the series lead with a 7-1 advantage. However, the lone loss eliminated the Deacs from the NCAA Tournament in 2003. After beating the Spartans in the regular season, 3-1, the Deacons were unable to advance past the first round, losing the match, 2-1.
Last season, the Deacons avenged the loss by winning 3-2. Sarah Kozey and Melanie Schneider each scored a goal and recorded an assist, and Elizabeth Remy scored the gamewinning goal to lead the Deacons to victory. Taylor Toombs also recorded an assist in the match.
The Deacons have outscored UNCG 24-9 in the all-time series.
Last time out
The Demon Deacons split their two games on their road trip to the Pacific Northwest. Wake Forest beat Washington State, 2-1, before losing to Oregon State by the same score.
Friday night, against the Cougars, the Deacs took the lead in the 17th minute when junior forward Elizabeth Remy won the ball from the defense and found Melanie Schneider in the box. The senior midfielder fired a shot that found the back of the net for her second goal on the season.
After Washington State tied the score at 1-1, forward Sarah Kozey scored the gamewinning goal for the Deacons in the 70th minute. The senior received a pass from Remy, and knocked the ball in the left siding of the net (more on Kozey's goal below).
In the Sunday match at Oregon State, Wake Forest fell behind early when Jen Crump scored a goal in the eighth minute. The Beavers took a 2-0 advantage as Jetta Sudusky netted a goal in the 51st minute.
The Deacons cut the lead to 2-1 in the 57th minute when Kozey notched her fourth goal of the season and third in as many games. Schneider was credited with an assist on the goal.
Kozey's alone at the top
With her gamewinning goal against Washington State, senior Sarah Kozey broke Emily Taggart's career goals scored record with 30. Taggart, who played for the Deacons from 1998-2001, scored 29 career goals. Kozey, a forward from Halifax, Nova Scotia, added yet another goal on Sunday to give her 31 career goals.
Kozey also moved into second place in career points with 78. She passed Taggart (76 points) and trails Anne Shropshire (85 points). Kozey also ranks third on the career shots list with 184.
Deacons in the rankings
The Wake Forest women's soccer team is ranked in four national polls. The Deacons are ranked 10th in this weeks adidas/NSCAA poll. Soccer Buzz Magazine ranks Wake Forest 13th. Both Soccer Times and Soccer America rank the Demon Deacons 15th in the latest polls.
By earning a national ranking in 2005, the Deacons have been ranked at least one week every season since 1996.
Deacon defenders
The back line, which consists of juniors Jayme Leigh Cargnoni and Keisha Garrick and sophomores Nicole Lecznar and Megan Upchurch, has been a solid force in the season. Through six games, the defense has allowed just 22 shots on goal, an average of just 3.7 shots on goal per game.
In the double overtime tie against Santa Clara, the back line played all 110 minutes and limited the Brocnos to just two shots on goal.
Garrick earns Soccer Buzz honors
Defender Keisha Garrick became the second Deacon this season to be named to the Soccer Buzz Magazine Elite Team of the Week. The publication honored the junior from Toronto for her stellar play against Santa Clara and San Diego. Garrick also was named the Defensive MVP of the Wake Forest/ACC/WCC Challenge. Junior Jayme Leigh Cargnoni, junior Elizabeth Remy, freshman Camelyn Dillon, and senior Melanie Schneider joined Garrick on the all-tournament team.
Remy's hot start continues, named ACC Player of the Week
Deacon forward Elizabeth Remy is off to a blazing start. The junior Norman, Okla. native scored two goals and registered five assists last weekend to amass nine points. Remy has played a role in seven of the nine Deacon goals scored. In recognition of her great start, the ACC named Remy its ACC Player of the Week for August 30. Remy also earned national honors from Buzz Magazine and Soccer America as both publications named Remy to their weekly teams of the week (Aug. 30).
In the ACC/WCC Challenge, Remy was named the Offensive MVP as well as named to the all-tournament team. She netted her third goal of the season.
Against Washington State, Remy recorded two assists. She set up Melanie Schneider's goal which gave Wake Forest an early 1-0 lead, and later in the game created the scoring opportunity for Sarah Kozey's recordbreaking goal.
Prior to this season, Remy had scored 13 goals and registered six assists. Through just six games of her junior campaign, the forward already has three goals and seven assists. The seven assists places Remy in a tie for fourth for most in one season. She stands just three behind the single season record.
Doe in the cage
Kaitlyn Doe continues to impress in goal. The junior from San Diego moved into the cage from her spot as a defender this past season and has excelled in shutting down the opposition. In 387 minutes of action, Doe has given up just three goals. Her goals against average is a paltry 0.70.
Spreading the wealth
This season, 10 players have scored 17 goals. Four more Deacons who have not scored a goal have registered assists, including freshman Camelyn Dillon who has three.
Fearless freshmen setting records
In their first career game, the Deacon freshmen stepped up when it mattered most. Trailing 1-0 in the match, midfielder Amanda Lebo netted a goal in the 25th-minute tying the game. Lebo collected a blocked Elizabeth Remy shot and fired a shot past the keeper. In the second half, midfielder Amy Smerdzinski knocked in a shot from 20-yards out into the upper right corner of the goal. In the 83rd-minute, forward Whitney Berry rebounded her own missed shot and rocketed a shot past the Seahawks' goalie. Freshman midfielder Camelyn Dillon recorded an assist on Berry's goal.
The three goals scored marked a Demon Deacon record. Three freshman had never scored a goal in their first career game before this season. The last time three freshman scored a goal in a game came last season when current sophomores Maggie Horne, Kristina Hanley, and Amber Bettenhausen each netted a goal versus Davidson.
So far this season, the freshmen have recorded four goals and five assists.
A tough road
The Demon Deacons once again face one of the toughest schedules in America. Although, playing in the ACC gives the Deacons little choice in playing a difficult slate.
In including the Deacs, six ACC schools earned top-25 rankings. Perennial powerhouse North Carolina (1st adidas/NSCAA, 1st Soccer Buzz, 1st Soccer America, 1st Soccer Times), Duke (7th a/N, 8th SB, 7th SA, 8th ST), Boston College (9th a/N, 11th SB, 9th SA, 12th ST), Virginia (12th a/N, 12 SB, 13 SA, 13 ST) and Florida State (16th a/N, 11th SB, 9th SA, 10th ST) represent the conference.
Wake Forest also has played Santa Clara, ranked fourth in all four polls, as well as Oregon State, 23rd in Soccer America.
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.
Junior Jayme Leigh Cargnoni moved from the midfield to the back and is seeing 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.
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 97-61-15 mark in eight years of coaching Wake Forest. For his career, da Luz has a record of 143-103-19. His 143 wins places him 48th all-time among active NCAA Division I coaches.
Up next
Wake Forest will open the ACC season with a home opener against No. 12 Virginia on Thursday, Sept. 22. The Deacons are 3-7-1 all-time against the Cavaliers, including a 2-4 record at Spry Stadium. The Deacons have won two out of the last three meetings with the Cavaliers at Spry. The match will kick off at 7 p.m.
Last season, Wake Forest won a thrilling overtime game against the Cavs. Sarah Kozey tied the match in the 76th minute, and Elizabeth Remy scored the golden goal in overtime to give the Deacons a 2-1 win over No. 3 Virginia.
Wake Forest will then host Virginia Tech the following Sunday evening. In 2004, the Deacons traveled to Blacksburg, but could not overcome a 3-1 deficit. Kozey gave the Deacons an early 1-0 lead, but three unanswered Hokie goals secured the victory. Melanie Schneider notched a goal in the 89th minute, but it was too little too late as the Deacons lost.
The Deacons and Hokies will kick off at Spry Stadium at 6 p.m.
