Wake Forest Athletics
Stengel Talks About Winning the U-20 World Cup
9/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 17, 2012
By Alex Botoman, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@SIDeacons)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After a month away from Wake Forest while competing with the U.S. squad at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Japan, Katie Stengel is now back with the Demon Deacons after winning the championship.
Stengel saw time in four of the Americans' six matches, including a start in the 2-0 win over Germany in the title match.
"It was awesome to see all our hard work after eight months (of preparation) finally pay off," said Stengel. "To be able to say that you're the best in the world is something that you'll cherish forever."
While Stengel may have been gone from Wake Forest during the three-week tournament, she had the support of many in the Demon Deacon community, first and foremost her teammates and coaches.
"On every game day I'd have calls from my teammates (at Wake Forest) wishing me luck and saying they we're going to watch the game," said Stengel. "Knowing I have such a big support at home and at Wake is great, and being able to represent Wake Forest is an honor."
Stengel rejoined the Demon Deacons for last Thursday's ACC opener at Miami where she scored the game-winning goal in Wake Forest's 1-0 win over the Hurricanes. Heading through the ACC slate, she will be competing against a number of players who were her teammates on the U.S. U-20 team.
"We're all going to see each other and try to focus on the game, but still say `hi' afterwards," said Stengel. "We've become such close friends after spending so much time together, that even though we're competing against each other (in college), we'll still have a little bond from this trip."
Stengel and the rest of the Demon Deacons will continue ACC play on Thursday when they host No. 5 Boston College at 7 p.m. at Spry Stadium.
