Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons to Open NCAA Tournament Against San Diego
11/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 11, 2010
Wake Forest Notes 
| NCAA Tournament Bracket
IRVINE, CALIF. - The fourth-seeded Wake Forest women's soccer team will open the 2010 NCAA Tournament Friday when it takes on West Coast Conference foe San Diego at 5 p.m. PST at Anteater Stadium in Irvine, Calif.
The Demon Deacons (12-7-3) are fresh off of winning the program's first ACC Championship, having taken down Maryland in a penalty kick shootout on Sunday to take the league title and the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.
Aubrey Bledsoe, Jackie McSally, Marisa Park and Katie Stengel were named to the All-ACC Tournament team, with Bledsoe taking home tournament MVP honors after saving three Terrapin penalty kicks in the championship match. Stengel scored her 15th goal of the season in the tournament final, setting a new Wake Forest single-season goal-scoring record. The freshman from Melbourne, Fla. also holds the school single-season points record with 35 points on the year.
Last year, Wake Forest posted the best NCAA Tournament performance in school history, defeating Kennesaw State, West Virginia and South Carolina to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time.
The trip to Southern California to take on San Diego is a familiar one for head coach Tony da Luz. Da Luz played four years for the Toreros before going on to start the women's program at the school, where he served as head coach from 1992-1996. He was named the 1996 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year.
Wake Forest has faced the USD on two previous occasions, scoring a 5-1 victory at Spry Stadium in 2005, but falling 2-1 at San Diego in 2007. The 2,100 mile trip to Irvine for tomorrow's match is the farthest that Wake Forest has ever traveled to play in the NCAA Tournament.
This year's San Diego team posted an 11-7-2 record, good for a third-place finish in the WCC. The Toreros won their last two regular season matches against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. San Diego has been paced by junior Stephanie Ochs, who leads the team with eight goals and 23 points this season. Courtney Parsons boasts a 0.80 goals against average and five shutouts in net.
The winner of the match between Wake Forest and San Diego will take on the winner of the contest between UC Irvine and Arizona State on Sunday at 2 p.m. PST at Anteater Stadium.
