Deacs Have Strong Showing in Two Spring Tournaments

4/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

April 18, 2007

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -

The Wake Forest women's soccer team recently competed in two tournaments as part of their spring schedule.

UNC Wilmington's 7v7 Tournament

The Deacs were in Wilmington, N.C., on Saturday, April 14, competing in UNC Wilmington's 7v7 soccer tournament. Inspired by the movie "Talladega Nights," the team split into two squads to compete in the tournament. "Team Walker" (Laura Morse, Nichole Lecznar, Megan Upchurch, Christy Carter, Amy Smerdzinski, Kaley Fountain, Maggie Horne, Elizabeth Remy and Allie Sadow) finished the day with a perfect 8-0 record and earned the overall team championship. "Team Texas Ranger" (Kaitlyn Doe, Caitlin Farrell, Laura Colven, Amanda Lebo, Camelyn Dillon, Jill Hutchinson, Sarah Winslow, Jayme Leigh Cargnoni and Kristen Kemp) earned a 4-2 record but lost in the quarterfinals to Campbell.

Game Results

Team "Walker" -- Tournament Champions
Group Play
WF 4 ECU 0 (Goals: Remy,Horne,Upchurch, Smerdzinski)
WF 2 Campbell 0 (Goals: Smerdzinski, Sadow)
WF 3 App. State 1 (Goals: Smerdzinski, Remy, Remy)
WF 4 Coastal Carolina (Goals: Lecznar, Carter, Sadow, Smerdzinski)

Playoffs
Sweet 16 - WF 2 App. State 0 (Goals: Sadow, Smerdzinski)
Quarterfinals - WF 3 ECU 2 (Goals: Remy, Sadow, Sadow)
Semifinals - WF 2 App. State 1 (Goals: Smerdzinski, Sadow)
Finals - WF 1 NC State 0 (Goal: Remy)

After seven grueling 20 minute games, the finals against NC State was a test of fitness and mentality. The Wake Forest winning goal was set up by Maggie Horne as she cut inside the box and hit a left footed blast which the NC State goalie stretched to save. Elizabeth Remy positioned herself well and was there to head in the rebound. The game was end-to-end with both teams creating great scoring chances. Laura Morse came up big with two great saves down the stretch to preserve the win. Overall, the team had an impressive 21 goals for and only 4 goals against. The team would like to thank senior Elizabeth Remy for playing and her vital contributions to the championship game.

Team "Texas Ranger"
Group Play
WF 2 App State 0 (Goals: Harrington 2)
WF 5 UNCW Alum 0 (Goals: Hutchinson 3, Kemp, Winslow)
WF 3 Barton 1 (Goals: Lebo,Winslow, Harrington)
WF 0 Frances Marion 1

Playoffs
Sweet 16 - WF 6 St Andrews 0 (Goals: Harrington 3, Dillon, Hutchinson)
Quarterfinals - WF 0 Campbell 1

Team "Texas Ranger" team played well but missed too many chances in their two losses to Frances Marion and to Campbell in the quarterfinals. The team had several chances to score early in its match against Campbell but failed to convert and were punished on a counter-attack. Highlights from the day include Bess Harrington's hat trick against St. Andrews. She led the team in the tournament with six total goals. Jill Hutchinson also had a hat trick against a team made up of UNCW Alums and had four goals on the day. Best goal of the day honors go to Camelyn Dillon's header off an Amanda Lebo cross in the St. Andrews game. Overall the team had a goal differential of +12 (15 for, 3 against). The team would like to thank seniors Kristen Kemp, Jayme Leigh Cargnoni and Kaitlyn Doe for playing.

Spring ACC Tournament

The Deacs participated in the annual Spring ACC Tournament held at the BB&T/Twin City Soccer Complex on March 31. The team played in four 45 minute games and performed well on the day. Wake passed the ball well, maintained good levels of possession and created plenty of scoring chances, but unfortunately the team was unable to capitalize on many of those chances.

Results/Game Summaries

Game 1 - WF 0 Clemson 0 (Clemson advanced on penalty kick shootout)

Clemson put Wake under pressure for the first 5-10 minutes of the game, but Wake soon settled into a rhythm. The Deacs pressed forward in the last 20 minutes to try and unlock the scoreless tie. A Clemson defender misheaded a ball back toward her own goal leaving Sarah Winslow with a great chance, but she missed her volley wide. Christy Carter put Megan Upchurch through to goal for a 1v1 opportunity but Upchurch narrowly missed the left post. A nice combination at the top of the box from Laura Colven to Amy Smerdzinski to Allie Sadow produced a clear opportunity from close range, but Clemson's goalie made another nice save. The last chance came as Sadow passed a ball over the Clemson backline to Hutchinson for another 1v1 opportunity but again the ensuing shot was narrowly missed to the left.

The sudden death penalty shootout went two rounds before Hutchinson's third round shot was saved by the Clemson keeper. Smerdzinski and Upchurch both converted their pk opportunities.

Game 2 - WF 1 Va Tech 0 (Goal: Smerdzinski (pk))

Laura Morse made three strong saves in the first 20 minutes of the game to keep the Deacs level. Virginia Tech had more of the play and was putting Wake under pressure until the Hokies made a mistake in the 21st minute. A Tech defender made a weak back pass to her goalie that Bess Harrington was able to reach just before the opposing goalie. Harrington touched it by the goalie, getting fouled for a penalty kick in the process. Kaley Fountain stepped up to convert the pk and give the Deacs a 1-0 lead. Laura Morse was called into action just a few minutes later, making another great save to preserve the lead and eventual win for Wake.

Game 3 - WF 0 Duke 1
Wake Forest started very slowly in the game and gave up a soft goal to fall behind 1-0 early. After that wake-up call Wake dominated the game, creating several scoring chances. Kaley Fountain just missed wide on a blistering direct free kick. Later, Fountain sent Allie Sadow through the left side. Sadow crossed to Maggie Horne at the near post but the Duke goalie deflected the ball wide. Additionally, Amy Smerdzinski drove a cross into Jill Hutchinson whose header went past the post. Sadow passed through to Sarah Winslow who just missed the near post from a tight angle. Hutchinson sent Winslow through again, but as Winslow tried to dribble around the Duke goalie to the inside, the keeper got a piece of the ball and deflected it out to Hutchinson whose shot was cleared off the line by a Duke defender. The game ended on great shot by Caitlin Farrell off a Wake Forest corner kick.

Game 4 - WF 0 UNC 2
The final game of the day saw two fatigued teams facing off against each other. The game was bogged down in the midfield with very few clear chances created by either team. The Deacs did have a great early opportunity only 40 seconds into the game as Camelyn Dillon put Allie Sadow through to goal on a breakaway, but the Carolina goalie made a great stretch save with her right hand. Two minutes later, Sarah Winslow drove down the right side and crossed a ball across the face of the UNC goal but no Wake player could connect. A UNC counterattack produced two successive crosses which the Deacs failed to clear, and after a melee in front of the Wake goal, UNC scored at the near post. Laura Colven then sent Winslow through on the right side but Winslow's shot went too high. Winslow got behind the UNC defense one last time late in the game cutting the ball back and shooting over from 20 yards, but the shot missed.

- WakeForestSports.com -