Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest Announces 2013 Women's Soccer Schedule
5/16/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
May 16, 2013
2013 Schedule | Printable Schedule
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By Alex Botoman, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeWSoccer)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Head coach Tony da Luz announced Wake Forest's 2013 women's soccer schedule that features home dates with four teams that finished in the top 10 last season, including a match against defending national champion North Carolina.
Florida State, Duke and Virginia will join the Tar Heels as teams that finished last season ranked in the top 10 that will come to Spry Stadium in 2013. Overall, 13 of Wake Forest's 20 games will be against teams that earned a bid to the 2012 NCAA Championship.
"We're playing arguably one of the toughest schedules in the country," said head coach Tony da Luz. "It's going be challenging, but if we do what we're supposed to do and win then we have a very good chance of being a high seed in the NCAA Championship.
The 2013 schedule will see the addition of newcomers Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the already challenging ACC slate. The Demon Deacons will host the Panthers at Spry Stadium and will travel to take on the Fighting Irish and the Orange. Wake Forest will also host Louisville in a non-conference match. The Cardinals will join the ACC for the 2014 season.
"Adding those three teams and playing 13 ACC games is going to be very difficult. It makes the non-conference schedule even more crucial for us," said head coach Tony da Luz. "Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse are going to be hungry to make a statement in their first season, and other than playing Notre Dame last year in the NCAA Tournament, we don't know a lot about them. I think that's where having our new assistant coach Mike Calabretta who came from Georgetown and played those teams is going to be able to provide us more insight and might give us an edge that some of the other ACC teams don't have."
Wake Forest will travel across the country early in the season for marquee non-conference matches against Portland and Washington at Portland's Merlo Field. The Pilots are a perennially strong team in women's soccer, winning two national titles since the turn of the century, while the Huskies have come on strong in the Pac-12, reaching the NCAA Tournament last season.
"Portland is definitely one of the most consistent teams in the country, and Washington is also a difficult opponent. It's a Friday-Sunday weekend against two NCAA Tournament caliber teams that we're going to treat like an NCAA weekend to prepare us for when the postseason comes," said head coach Tony da Luz. "Portland's home field environment is pretty special. I used to have to go there when I coached in the West Coast Conference at San Diego, so I know how difficult it is to play there and the passion that their fans have for that program. Playing at Merlo Field is going to be a great championship experience for our team."
The 2013 Demon Deacons will take the field at Spry Stadium for the first time on August 16 when they host Campbell in an exhibition match. Wake Forest's regular season opener will come a week later on Aug, 23 at home against Kentucky. The Demon Deacons will then cap off an SEC weekend on Aug. 25 with a home match against Alabama.
The Deacons will host the Wake Forest Invitational on Aug. 30 and Sept. 1, featuring Louisville, North Texas and Virginia Tech. The Demon Deacons will take on the Mean Green on Aug. 30 and the Cardinals on Sept. 1
Wake Forest closes out its non-conference schedule with its trip to Portland, taking on Portland on Sept. 6 and Washington on Sept. 8.
The Demon Deacons then open ACC play on Sept. 12 at home against 2012 College Cup semifinalists Florida State and close out the weekend against Miami on Sept. 15, also at Spry Stadium.
A few days later, Wake Forest hosts Duke on Sept. 19 before kicking off a challenging road stretch at Maryland on Sept. 22 in the last ACC match between the two schools before the Terrapins depart for the Big Ten next season.
The Demon Deacons will head to Boston College on Sept. 26 and Syracuse on Sept. 29 before closing out the road swing at Notre Dame on Oct. 3.
Wake Forest will return to Spry Stadium for its Senior Day against Virginia on Oct. 13 and will follow that with a trip to Virginia Tech on Oct. 17. On Oct. 20, the Demon Deacons will travel to Clemson before coming home to host Pittsburgh on Oct. 24.
Defending national champion North Carolina will come to town to face Wake Forest on Oct. 27 at Spry Stadium. The Demon Deacons will then close out the regular season on Oct. 31 on the road at NC State, which will be under the direction of former Wake Forest associate head coach Tim Santoro.
