Wake Forest Athletics
Top-Seed Deacs Face Rematch with UCF in NCAA Quarterfinals
11/24/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 24, 2011
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| UCF Notes | Tournament Central
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The top-seeded Wake Forest women's soccer team will host UCF on Friday at 7 p.m. at Spry Stadium in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament as it looks to advance to its first-ever College Cup.
The two teams squared off back in August in a regular season match that the Deacons won 1-0 down in Orlando. Tickets for Friday's match are seven dollars for adults and three dollars for youths, students and seniors, and can be purchased at the Spry Stadium box office on the day of the game.
Deacs Through to the Quarters for the 2nd Time
Wake Forest came out on the right side of a 4-2 goalfest against Penn State last Sunday to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals - its second appearance in the final eight in the last three years.
Katie Stengel posted a five-point game with two goals and an assist, and Jackie Logue and Ally Berry chipped in a goal and an assist each to help lead the Demon Deacons to victory. On her 20th birthday, goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe made a career-high 11 saves in net to help preserve the win for Wake Forest.
Quest for Kennesaw
Wake Forest is trying to book a ticket to the College Cup in Kennesaw, Ga. for the first time in the history of the program. The Demon Deacons' only previous quarterfinal appearance came in 2009 when they fell on the road at top-seed UNC. The Wake Forest men's soccer team reached the College Cup in four straight seasons from 2006-09 and won the 2007 National Championship.
Deacons Face Rematch with UCF in the Quarters
Wake Forest will take on a familiar opponent on Friday in UCF - a team that it defeated 1-0 in Orlando back on August 21. Rachel Nuzzolese scored the lone goal of that game - a sublime strike from 19 yards off of a beautiful combination play with Katie Stengel. A strong defensive effort iced the game as the Deacons allowed only two UCF shots in the second half.
Stengel Breaks Scoring Records Against PSU
Katie Stengel's five-point performance against Penn State not only helped the Deacons reach the quarterfinals, it also gave her firm control of the Wake Forest single-season scoring marks. Her 18 goals and 44 points this year are the most ever for a Deacon, topping her previous school records of 16 goals and 37 points from her freshman season of 2010. Fellow sophomore Rachel Nuzzolese is also creeping up the charts with 11 goals and 28 points this year - marks that rank sixth.
The First Since Mia Hamm...
If Katie Stengel continues her current scoring pace through the send of the season, she will join former North Carolina star Mia Hamm and NC State standout Charmaine Hooper as the only players to lead the ACC in goal-scoring two years in a row.
As a freshman in 2010, Stengel led all ACC players with 16 goals and a 0.67 goals-per-game rate, the statistic that the conference has used to name its scoring leader since 2002. This season, Stengel has scored 18 times at a rate of 0.82 goals-per-game, with both marks currently leading the ACC. Stengel is also the conference's points leader with 44 points (2.0 points per game).
Hamm was the last player to lead the league in scoring in back-to-back seasons, accomplishing the feat when she netted 32 goals in 1992 and 26 goals in 1993. Hooper was the first to lead the ACC in consecutive seasons, scoring 15 goals in 1988 and 26 goals in 1999.
Birthday Girl Bledsoe
Aubrey Bledsoe made a career-high 11 saves against Penn State on her 20th birthday, to help the Deacons hold off the Nittany Lions and the nation's top-scorer Maya Hayes, and advance to the quarterfinals.
While Hayes scored twice to push her season total to 31 goals, she could have had a few more if not for some stellar goalkeeper by Bledsoe who made seven of her 11 saves in the second half as the Nittany Lions pushed forward in desperation to try to dig themselves out of a two-goal hole.
Bledsoe's 11 stops topped her previous career-high of nine that she set in a 1-0 loss at Florida State in 2010. Eleven saves are the most for a Demon Deacon since 2008, when Laura Morse saved 11 Virginia shots. They are also tied for the most saves in a game by an ACC player this season.
Scouting the Knights
UCF reached the quarterfinals for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1987 by knocking out 20-time champion North Carolina in a penalty kick shootout in the third round, after having previously defeating FIU in the first round and upsetting second-seeded Florida in the second round.
UCF holds a 13-4-6 record and finished third in Conference USA in the regular season. The Knights are led by junior playmaker Tishia Jewell, who has tallied seven goals, 10 assists and 24 points this season. Nicolette Radovcic leads the team in goals with eight. UCF also boasts talented senior goalkeeper Aline Reis, who holds a 0.82 goals against average this season and has kept nine clean sheets.
Home Sweet Home Wake Forest has been selected as a host site for the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time. The Deacons previously hosted NCAA games in 1999, 2000, 2006, 2008 and 2009. Wake Forest holds a 9-2 record in NCAA Tournament games played at Spry Stadium. This is the first time that the Demon Deacons will ever host a quarterfinal game.
Wake Forest's 17th Victory Sets School Record Wake Forest's 4-2 win over Penn State in the third round of the NCAA Tournament was its 17th of the season, setting a new school record. The Deacons had won 16 games on three previous occasions: 1999, 2006 and 2009. The Demon Deacons are assured of finishing the season with no more than four losses, which would be their fewest-ever.
As Stengel and Nuzz Go, So Go the Deacons
It comes as no surprise that Wake Forest's prolific forwards Katie Stengel and Rachel Nuzzolese have been the key to the Demon Deacons' success this season. Wake Forest is 16-0-1 when either Stengel or Nuzzolese score a goal, and only 1-3-3 when neither does.
