Thursday, October 28
South Bend, Ind.
7 P.M.
Wake Forest University
14-4-0, 6-4-0
1
at
2
Notre Dame
13-4-1, 7-3-0
1
2
F
Wake Forest
0
1
1
Notre Dame
1
1
2
Wake Forest Falls in Final Regular Season Match
10/28/2021 10:03:00 PM | Women's Soccer
The Demon Deacons outshot the Irish 22-11 but were unable to complete the rainy comeback.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Wake Forest (14-4-0, 6-4-0) women's soccer dropped a 2-1 decision in their final match of the 2021 season to Notre Dame (13-4-1, 7-3-0) at Alumni Stadium on Thursday.
Despite the result, Wake Forest have clinched a spot in the ACC tournament for the first time since 2017. The Demon Deacons will take a short trip to Durham for a rematch with the Duke Blue Devils in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
The Deacs outshot the Irish 22-11 with 12 of those shots being on frame. Sofia Rossi provided Wake Forest's sole goal as Notre Dame's goalkeeper Ashley Naylor recorded a career high 11 saves.
Notre Dame struck first in the 20th minute of the match when Sammi Fischer found the net for the Fighting Irish. Fischer snuck her shot under Kaitlin Parks for her 11th goal of the season.
The Deacs nearly found an equalizer just two minutes on but Sophie Faircloth's effort was headed off the goal line. Nikayla Small and Zara Chavoshi both had shots that troubled Irish goalkeeper Naylor but the Deacs still searched for a breakthrough.
The Deacs went into the break down 1-0, the fifth time the Deacs have trailed by one goal this season. However, Wake Forest more than doubled the amount of shots that the Irish had in the first half, attempting 12 shots to the Irish's five.
The second half rain storm did not deter the Deacs' attacking efforts. Through the first 20 minutes of the second half, Wake Forest recorded five shots and forced three saves from the Notre Dame goalkeeper.
In the 70th minute of play, Sofia Rossi found an equalizer for the Demon Deacons. Shayla Smart found the Akron, Ohio native in space. Rossi turned with the ball and fired a shot that deflected off an Irish defender and found its way into the bottom corner.
Rossi had another opportunity to double her tally but her free kick effort sailed inches over the crossbar. Shortly after, Jenna Menta's left footed shot forced another save by Naylor.
In the 82nd minute the Irish regained their advantage through Maddie Mercado. Mercado's corner kick crossed the goal line before Hulda Arnarsdottir was able to clear it. The Irish would retain this lead for the final eight minute of the match.
Demon Deacon Details
"It is disappointing because I thought that was an excellent performance from us. I don't know if we can play that much better or if we have played much better all year. The ball movement was fantastic, creativity, possession, ball defending and ball winning. If you look at the game I thought we were the better team. If you give up a couple goals you lose the game. It wasn't the result we wanted but I liked the performance and the trend we are going in over the last three games. We are excited to play in a knockout game."
Up Next
Wake Forest will take a trip to Durham as they will take on the Blue Devils in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The match is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m.
The match against Duke will be streamed on ACC Network.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | #GoDeacs
Despite the result, Wake Forest have clinched a spot in the ACC tournament for the first time since 2017. The Demon Deacons will take a short trip to Durham for a rematch with the Duke Blue Devils in the first round of the ACC Tournament.
The Deacs outshot the Irish 22-11 with 12 of those shots being on frame. Sofia Rossi provided Wake Forest's sole goal as Notre Dame's goalkeeper Ashley Naylor recorded a career high 11 saves.
Notre Dame struck first in the 20th minute of the match when Sammi Fischer found the net for the Fighting Irish. Fischer snuck her shot under Kaitlin Parks for her 11th goal of the season.
The Deacs nearly found an equalizer just two minutes on but Sophie Faircloth's effort was headed off the goal line. Nikayla Small and Zara Chavoshi both had shots that troubled Irish goalkeeper Naylor but the Deacs still searched for a breakthrough.
The Deacs went into the break down 1-0, the fifth time the Deacs have trailed by one goal this season. However, Wake Forest more than doubled the amount of shots that the Irish had in the first half, attempting 12 shots to the Irish's five.
The second half rain storm did not deter the Deacs' attacking efforts. Through the first 20 minutes of the second half, Wake Forest recorded five shots and forced three saves from the Notre Dame goalkeeper.
In the 70th minute of play, Sofia Rossi found an equalizer for the Demon Deacons. Shayla Smart found the Akron, Ohio native in space. Rossi turned with the ball and fired a shot that deflected off an Irish defender and found its way into the bottom corner.
Rossi had another opportunity to double her tally but her free kick effort sailed inches over the crossbar. Shortly after, Jenna Menta's left footed shot forced another save by Naylor.
In the 82nd minute the Irish regained their advantage through Maddie Mercado. Mercado's corner kick crossed the goal line before Hulda Arnarsdottir was able to clear it. The Irish would retain this lead for the final eight minute of the match.
Demon Deacon Details
- Wake Forest finishes the season with 18 ACC points and will qualify for their first ACC tournament since 2017.
- The 2021 season marks the 25th at Wake Forest for head coach Tony da Luz, where he is now 282-184-53.
- This is the first time since 2012 that the Deacs have recorded six wins in ACC play, tying a program high for ACC wins in a season.
- This is the quickest any Wake Forest team has made it to 14 wins in program history.
- Twelve different Deacs have scored at least one goal this season, and six of Deac's 12 goal scorers have scored two or more goals.
- This match marks the first time this season the Demon Deacons have fallen when outshooting their opponents.
- Sofia Rossi netted her seventh goal of the season. The most the redshirt senior has recorded in a single season in her Wake Forest career.
- Shayla Smart's assist to Rossi's goal was her second of the season and third of her career.
"It is disappointing because I thought that was an excellent performance from us. I don't know if we can play that much better or if we have played much better all year. The ball movement was fantastic, creativity, possession, ball defending and ball winning. If you look at the game I thought we were the better team. If you give up a couple goals you lose the game. It wasn't the result we wanted but I liked the performance and the trend we are going in over the last three games. We are excited to play in a knockout game."
Up Next
Wake Forest will take a trip to Durham as they will take on the Blue Devils in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The match is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m.
The match against Duke will be streamed on ACC Network.
FOLLOW THE DEACS
Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | #GoDeacs
Team Stats
WF
ND
Goals
1
2
Shots
22
11
Shots on Goal
12
3
Saves
1
10
Corners
10
5
Fouls
10
5
Scoring Plays
Sammi Fisher (11)
Assisted By: Olivia Wingate
GOAL by ND Fisher, Sammi Assist by Wingate, Olivia.
19:58
Sofia Rossi (7)
Assisted By: Shayla Smart
GOAL by WF Rossi, Sofia Assist by Smart, Shayla.
69:21
Maddie Mercado (5)
GOAL by ND Mercado, Maddie.
82:12
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
fwd
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Women's Soccer
Defender
/ Women's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Women's SoccerForward
/ Women's SoccerMidfielder
/ Women's SoccerMidfielder
/ Women's SoccerForward
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