Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Host Top 10 Teams Maryland and Boston College
10/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 20, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest women's soccer team will welcome two of the top teams in the country to Spry Stadium when it takes on No. 6 Maryland on Thursday at 7 p.m. and No. 9 Boston College on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Sunday's contest against the Eagles will feature the annual Kick for the Cure promotion. The Demon Deacons will wear pink jerseys that will be auctioned off to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research.
"This disease hits everybody through relationships, whether it's family or friends," said head coach Tony da Luz. "Last weekend, the men's soccer team raised a lot of money for Genna Wiley's fund and Steve Wiley and their family were heavily involved with it. We keep them in our minds, and I think the girls have a great appreciation for what we're doing. We hope that the jerseys get some high bids to generate money for the cause, because at some point we have to find a cure."
Wake Forest enters the weekend slate in tied for third place in the ACC with a 4-2-1 conference record (10-5-1 overall). Last weekend the Deacs played two road matches, tying Virginia Tech 3-3 and falling to No. 8 Virginia 2-1.
"I'm happy with where we are to be in the top three in the conference at this point in the season, but I'm disappointed that we weren't able to take advantages of some opportunities last weekend to gain some more points." said head coach Tony da Luz. "I expect the kids to be reenergized this weekend and ready to take advantage of our opportunities against Maryland and BC."
Forward Katie Stengel scored her 13th goal and 29th point of the season against the Cavaliers, breaking Wake Forest freshman records that had stood for more than a decade. The Melbourne, Fla. native leads the ACC in goals and ranks second in points, and is the highest-scoring freshman in the nation in both categories. Stengel is only one goal and three points shy of the Wake Forest all-time single-season records.
"She's never satisfied. She has an attitude that no matter how many goals she scores, she's not satisfied when she misses a shot or loses the ball," said da Luz. "She's very self-motivated and competitive and has high standards. She wants to score and create goals every game, and that's the mentality that you want to have from a forward. You would have a hard time finding better forwards in the conference than Katie."
Marisa Park also had a solid weekend as she notched a goal and an assist against Virginia Tech to record the first multi-point game of her career.
Maryland enters Thursday's match tied for third in the ACC with a 4-1-1 conference record and 12-1-1 overall mark. The Terrapins are fresh off of a 4-0 shutout of Clemson. Jazmine Spencer has led the Terps with eight goals and 21 points this season.
"They pass the ball really well and they have good athleticism all over the field," said da Luz. "Jazmine Spencer up front is a super-fast kid. She's always a presence on the field that you have to be aware of. It's a veteran team that's been through a lot of games together."
Boston College goes into weekend action with a 3-3-0 ACC record (10-3-1 overall) good for sixth place in the conference. The Eagles' Victoria DiMartino leads the ACC with 31 points and is tied for second in the conference behind Wake Forest's Stengel with 12 goals. Kristie Mewis has put up eight goals and 25 points, good for fourth in the conference, this season.
"DiMartino hides in a lot of seams and picks up the ball in the midfield sometimes. She's a playmaker and she has a great left-foot release," said da Luz. "Mewis has dominated the left side for them. She can shoot it, she can play make and she can pass. I think she's one of the top three players in the conference."
While the Deacons wrap up the regular season with games against three top 10 teams in No. 6 Maryland, No. 9 Boston College and No. 3 North Carolina, they have the advantage of playing all three matches in front of their home crowd at Spry Stadium.
"I hope that our fans will recognize that these are big games and come out and support us because we're going to need their energy," said da Luz. "They are winnable games. The beauty of the ACC is that you play teams that are in the top 10 and can get some points and wins against them, which has really huge NCAA implications for you."
