Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons To Face Top-Seed Duke in ACC Semifinals
11/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2011
The defending ACC champion Wake Forest women's team will continue on its quest for a second-straight conference crown on Friday when it faces top-seeded Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals at 5:30 p.m. WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. The game will be broadcast online by ESPN3.com
The Deacons, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, advanced to the semifinals by defeating Boston College 3-2 on the road in the quarterfinals last Sunday. They are aiming to become the first school other than North Carolina to successfully defend its ACC Women's Soccer Championship.
Revenge is a Dish Best Served in the Cold
A loss at Boston College in the regular-season finale on Oct. 27 ruined Wake Forest's hopes of hosting the first round of the ACC Tournament and set up a rematch with the Eagles three days later in the ACC quarterfinals.
With three days in Boston to acclimate to the cold temperatures and after riding out a Saturday snow storm, the Demon Deacons came prepared to Sunday's match and controlled the tempo from the outset, jumping out to a 3-0 lead before fending off a late BC rally to win 3-2.
Rachel Nuzzolese was the star of the match for the Demon Deacons, scoring the opening goal before assisting on the other two scores. Kim Marshall netted her first-career goal off of a Nuzzolese corner kick to push the Wake Forest lead to 2-0, and Riley Ridgik scored the eventual game-winner off of another Nuzzolese corner kick.
The Eagles scored two late goals in an attempt to rally, but came up short, sending the Demon Deacons through to the semifinals for the second year in a row.
Stengel Named ACC Offensive Player of the Year
Katie Stengel was voted as the 2011 ACC Offensive Player of the Year by the conference's 11 head coaches, becoming the first-ever Wake Forest player to win the award. Stengel was also named to the All-ACC First Team for the second consecutive year, making her one of only three Wake Forest players ever to earn All-ACC First Team honors multiple times.
Last year's ACC Freshman of the Year, Stengel leads all ACC players with 0.76 goals per game and 1.82 points per game scoring clips. Her 13 goals this season ranks as the third-most in school history and are only three goals behind her school record of 16 that she set as a freshman last season. In only two seasons at Wake Forest, she has already scored 29 goals, tied for the third-most for a Demon Deacon in an entire career.
Five Deacons Earn ACC Honors
Four other Demon Deacons joined ACC Offensive Player of the Year Katie Stengel on this year's list of conference awards. Goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe was named to the All-ACC First Team, and defender Caralee Keppler was named to the All-ACC Second Team. Riley Ridgik and Kim Marshall were selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
Both in their second year at Wake Forest, Bledsoe and Keppler earned All-ACC honors for the first time in their careers. Bledsoe has played every minute in net for the Deacons this season and set a new school record with 11 shutouts. Keppler has been a major part of the back line that has helped Wake Forest post a 0.61 goals against average this season - the second-lowest in the ACC.
Ridgik has started every game of her freshman season in the midfield, scoring two goals, including the game-winner against Boston College in last Sunday's ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Marshall has been a fixture at center back for the Deacons and scored her first-career goal against the Eagles last Sunday.
Nuzzolese Makes Soccer America Team of the Week
Forward Rachel Nuzzolese earned national recognition for her four-point performance in Wake Forest's 3-2 quarterfinal win over Boston College on Sunday, making Soccer America's National Team of the Week. Nuzzolese had a hand in all three of Wake Forest's goals in its quarterfinal win at Boston College last Thursday, scoring the opener off of an assist from Katie Stengel before providing perfect service on two corner kicks that led to the Deacons' second two scores.
Wake Forest's offense has had a resurgence in recent games, largely thanks to the efforts of forward Nuzzolese, who has tallied three goals and eight points in the Demon Deacons' last three matches. Nuzzolese ranks second on the team and in the top 10 in the ACC with nine goals and 21 points this season.
Ridgik Comes Through in the Clutch
Midfielder Riley Ridgik has scored two goals in her freshman season, and both of them have been game-winners off of set pieces. Ridgik netted game-winning goal in Wake Forest's quarterfinal win over Boston College, heading a Rachel Nuzzolese corner kick past Eagles' goalkeeper Jillian Mastroianni in the 70th minute.
Ridgik's first-career goal also came at a critical time in the 70th minute, when she scored in a scramble after a free kick to give the Demon Deacons a 2-1 road win over NC State. A native of Ventura, Calif., Ridgik has started every game of the season for Wake Forest, joining Alisha Woodson and Aubrey Bledsoe as the only other Deacons to do so.
Series History vs. Duke
Wake Forest holds a 6-13-3 all-time record against Duke, but has a 2-1-1 advantage against the Blue Devils in ACC Tournament play. The last time Wake Forest and Duke met in the conference tournament was 2007, when the Deacons topped the Blue Devils 1-0 in the quarterfinals.
Duke defeated Wake Forest 2-0 this season, though the Deacons were playing without leading scorer Katie Stengel.
Wake Forest Again Exceeds Preseason Pick
Wake Forest was picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference in a preseason vote of the league's head coaches, but went on to finish in a tie for fourth, marking the third straight season that the Demon Deacons have out-performed the preseason prognostications.
Last year, the Deacs were also picked to finish seventh, and ended up in fifth place after the regular season before making a run through the ACC Tournament to win the conference championship. In 2009, the Deacons were picked to finish sixth and ended up grinding out a fifth place finish.
North Carolina was picked to finish first in this year's poll, earning seven first-place votes. Florida State came in second with four first-place votes, with Boston College following in third. Virginia occupied the fourth spot in the poll, and ACC runner-up Maryland was picked to finish fifth. Duke was picked sixth, followed by Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, NC State, Miami and Clemson.
Don't Play for Penalty Kicks Against the Deacons
The postseason has rolled around once again, bringing with it the possibility of a penalty kick shootout to determine advancement. Wake Forest's opponents would be well advised to avoid PKs, given that current Deacon goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe is a perfect 2-0 in shootouts and no player on the Wake Forest roster has ever missed a PK shootout attempt.
Wake Forest knocked North Carolina out in last year's ACC semifinals, as current Deacons Alisha Woodson, Katie Stengel, India Winford and Amanda Howell all made their PK attempts, while UNC's Meghan Klingenberg missed her shot to give Wake Forest a 5-4 win.
In the championship match against Maryland, Woodson and Stengel converted for the Demon Deacons, and Bledsoe played the hero, stopping three Terrapin PKs to hand Wake Forest a 3-1 victory.
