Deacons to Open Season-Ending Homestand Against Radford
10/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Field Hockey
Oct. 17, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest will begin a three-game homestand at Kentner Stadium to end the regular season when it hosts the Radford Highlanders on Tuesday evening at 6:00 p.m.
The Demon Deacons (6-8) enter the contest with the momentum of a four-game winning streak that began on Oct. 8 with a 4-1 victory at Temple. In their last time out, they handily defeated Liberty by a score of 5-0 in Lynchburg, Va., last Friday.
Radford, a member of the NorPac Conference, sits just below .500 with a record of 7-8 on the season. They were defeated by Longwood 3-1 on Sunday afternoon in their last action.
The all-time series between the two schools leans heavily in Wake's favor. The Deacs lead 16-6-1 and have won the last 14 meetings against the Highlanders dating back to Sep. 21, 1993. The last matchup between the two came on Oct. 13, 2010, when Wake Forest, buoyed by goals from Adelaide Knott and Jess McFadyen, defeated Radford 4-3 at Kentner Stadium.
Junior Lizzie Rae will be seeking her third consecutive multi-goal game as the Deacons take the field on Tuesday. She tallied a pair of goals against both Davidson and Liberty last week to bring her season total to seven, the second-most on the team. Rae also remains well on pace to post career highs in the shots and shots on goal categories.
McFadyen, a sophomore, is carrying a streak of her own. While normally a defensively-minded player, she has scored in each game during the winning streak. Her first two goals came as a result of penalty strokes, her third was a thrilling shot off a penalty corner as time expired against Davidson and she collected a rebound and found the back of the cage to open Wake's scoring against Liberty.
Sophomore Kari Walkley continues to star as the leading goal-scorer for the Deacons. Five of her nine goals in 2011 have come during the last four games, and she has maintained her overall lead in points on the team as well. She leads Rae by just a single point with 19.
During the current winning streak, Wake Forest has outshot its opponents by an amazing 89-22 margin, including 56-6 over the last two games alone. The offensive outburst has produced 19 goals across the four contests, one more than the Deacs had in their first 10 games combined.
All five of the Highlanders' top scorers this season are seniors. Melissa Register leads them with seven goals, followed closely by Courtney Poole with six and Marlee Schramm and Lynsey Daughtrey with five apiece. Sophomore Sidney Encarnacion mans the cage for Radford and has made 58 saves with a 6-6 record on the year.
Following the matchup on Tuesday, Wake will face a short turnaround as Virginia travels to Winston-Salem for an ACC contest on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
