Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Field Hockey 2010 Season Preview
8/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Aug. 25, 2010
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The No. 6-ranked Wake Forest field hockey team is just days away from beginning the 2010 season and its quest to get back to the NCAA Final Four.
The Demon Deacons graduated five senior starters from last year's squad and have just three seniors on this season's team, meaning several new faces will be seeing significant action on the field in 2010.
What the Deacons may lack in experience on the field is made up for by 19th-year head coach Jennifer Averill, who has led the Wake Forest field hockey team to three NCAA National Championships and three ACC Championships.
Wake won the NCAA Championship three consecutive years in 2002, 2003 and 2004. The Deacs' three ACC titles came in 2002, 2003 and 2006.
"This year we are going to be young, but having said that, we have a lot of eager players who are anxious to step up into new roles," said Averill. "With our program, we never deviate from what our goals are from year to year. Those goals are to play for championships. We don't want to aim for second. We don't want to aim for third. We want to aim for a championship."
Wake Forest will look for much of its success to be generated through its attacking forwards, perhaps the deepest position for the Deacs this season.
"We have a lot of depth up top, and we're going to need it this year," said Averill. "The forwards are going to have to help our organization since they are our first line of defense. The nice thing about our depth at forward is that we have a lot of players who can finish."
Sophomore Lizzie Rae is among those who can finish when given the opportunity, as she proved last season by leading the team with 11 goals in just her freshman campaign. Rae was also recognized already this season by being named to the Preseason All-ACC Team.
"Lizzie gave us great minutes with her knowledge and understanding last year, and we look for her to do the same this season," said Averill. "Taylor Rhea has also proven to be very dynamic up front and does well in one-on-one situations."
Rhea and fellow freshmen Kari Walkley and Jess McFadyen will all look to help out immediately at the forward position for the Demon Deacons.
"Kari is a scrappy young player and Jess is crafty and is really skilled inside the circle," said Averill. "Emily Cummings is a really disciplined forward, while Kerry Ergen has given us good minutes in the past. Adelaide Knott is another strong, dynamic player for us, and Alex Wolfgang-Price will also see some time up top this year."
The midfield will certainly be an area where the Deacons will have new players on the field. "With our forward line, we want to add a lot of support and aggressive players in our midfield so that they can follow up and offer good numbers," said Averill. "The bulk of our midfield will be occupied by new faces. You will see Faith Adams and possibly Lauren Greenwald and Cristen Atchison filling those positions."
Greenwald led the team last season with nine assists, while Adams had three goals and two assists and Atchison was the only player who started all 20 games for Wake.
"Kaitlin Piosa will continue to be at midfield, and you may see Lizzie or Emily there as well," said Averill.
Piosa played in all 20 games and had five goals and two assists in 2009.
The players occupying the back line for the Demon Deacons may change throughout the year depending on the opponent and the circumstance.
"It will be interesting to see how the season evolves and the systems we will use in different situations this year," said Averill. "Liza Casella has the best distribution on our team, and will most definitely be in the backfield. Her ball speed is so quick, and it has the ability to some of our opponents flat footed. Cristen also offers a defensive stopper for us and is also very aggressive in coming out into the pocket."
Sophomore Jillian Anzalone and freshmen Molly Murphy and Christine Conroe will also be asked to give quality minutes in the backfield.
"Molly is making a strong case for time so far. She is a young player with lots of potential and skill, while Chrissy is another player who should be getting minutes," said Averill. "Jill has made a lot of growth in her game this preseason and can offer quite a bit in different situations for us."
Protecting the cage this year for the Demon Deacons will be sophomore Kaitlyn Ruhf and junior transfer Bronwen Gainsford, who joined Wake Forest after transferring from Catawba.
Ruhf split time early in the year last season before earning the starting goalkeeper position. She played in 17 games and made 15 starts will stopping 57 shots and recording three shutouts in 2009.
"As a squad and as a staff, we probably asked Kaitlyn to play maybe a year ahead of herself, but this year she has already shown more maturity in her game," said Averill. "Technically, the improvements she has made over the summer time have been huge and will be beneficial for her. Bronwen is adding depth at that position, and she just needs to gain more experience at this level."
Wake Forest finished last season 13-7 and missed the NCAA Final Four for the first time in 10 seasons, but the Deacs are determined to make a postseason run again in 2010.
"Our motto has always been to play on Sundays, and that hasn't changed," said Averill.
The Deacons will be begin the 2010 schedule this weekend at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge hosted by North Carolina. WFU will play Iowa on Saturday at 2 pm and Michigan on Sunday at 2 pm.
