Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
UNC Greensboro
No. 14 Deacons Shut Out UNC Greensboro 3-0
9/19/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 19, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest (7-1-0) women's soccer team recorded its third straight shut out, defeating UNC Greensboro (5-4-0) 3-0 on a chilly Friday night at Spry Stadium.
"We didn't come out with the home field mentality that we need," head coach Tony da Luz said. "The first five to 10 minutes of the game, we were very poor. We took the game over in the second half. We did exactly what the game plan asked for. We had so many opportunities that we missed that were the result of good passing."
For the second consecutive game, Wake Forest had several quality scoring opportunities, taking 29 shots in the contest, including 10 shots on goal. UNC Greensboro had seven shots in the game.
Junior goalkeeper Laura Morse recorded her third consecutive shut out in the game. Morse made one save in the contest and has not allowed a goal in 353:14 minutes played this season.
UNCG had its best scoring chance of the game in the fifth minute, firing off three shots in the span of 15 seconds. Kristin Player fired a shot from just inside the box that Morse blocked. With Morse away from an empty net, Mary Kate Towne attempted a shot that was headed off the line by a Wake Forest defender. Nicole Danford got the final shot of the sequence, sending the ball well high of the net.
The Deacons got on the board in the 28th minute on a great individual effort by Amy Smerdzinski. The senior midfielder took the ball in the back field and dribbled the ball all the way up the field, dribbling around several UNCG defenders. Smerdzinski fired a shot from 22 yards out on the right side of the field. The shot was deflected by a UNCG player inside the 18, and went in the right side of the net to give Wake a 1-0 advantage, which it took to the half.
"That goal was something that you want to see from your senior captain when the game is not going the way we want it to go," da Luz added. "She took the game over right there. It was a great individual effort to get us the lead. She was very good tonight."
Wake Forest got on the board early in the second half, scoring in the 48th minute. A corner from Jill Hutchinson found Kaley Fountain on the left side of the field. Fountain attempted a shot from 19 yards out that deflected off a Spartan player and went into the left side of the net.
The Deacs closed out the scoring at the 81:26 mark. Fountain played a cross to reigning ACC Player of the Week Bianca D'Agostino in the middle of the field. D'Agostino fired a shot from 12 yards out that beat the diving UNCG keeper on the left side.
Wake Forest closes out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 7-1-0 record. The Deacons open ACC play next weekend with a pair of matches, facing Maryland on Thursday and Boston College on Sunday.
"As we head into conference play, I know what we got now in terms of substitution patterns," da Luz said. "We feel pretty good going into ACC play with as many chances as we're creating and with our play in goal."
The Deacons and Terps square off Thursday night at 7 p.m., while Wake and Boston College meet on Sunday at 1 p.m.
-WakeForestSports.com-
