Second-Seeded Wake Forest Falls in Overtime to Third-Seeded Virginia in ACC Field Hockey Championship Semifinals

DURHAM, N.C. - The second-seeded Wake Forest field hockey fell in overtime by a final score of 3-2 in the ACC Championship Semifinals against third-seeded Virginia on Wednesday afternoon inside Jack Katz Stadium.

Immie Gillgrass got Wake Forest (15-5) on the board in the second quarter with her third goal of the season following a Demon Deacon penalty corner.

For the majority of the season, Wake Forest used penalty corners to fuel its offense as the Deacs lead the conference in total corners (134) and goals off corners (18).

Rachel Thetford doubled the Deacs' lead in the third quarter after firing a rebound off a saved shot in the back of the net. Minutes later, Virginia (13-6) trimmed Wake Forest's lead back to one with less than three minutes in the third.

The Cavaliers forced overtime in the 58th minute before adding the golden goal a minute and a half minutes into extra time.

How It Happened

The match remained scoreless after the first 15 minutes of the play. Virginia posed the only offensive attack of the period at the five-minute mark as the teams juggled for possession throughout the opening frame.
Ellie Todd poked the ball away from a Virginia attacker in the opening minutes of the second to keep the match locked at 0.
The Deacs offense went on the attack as Wake Forest took back-to-back corners four minutes in the second.
- The first Wake Forest shot taken by Sky Caron was blocked before a Meike Lanckohr attempt was saved by the Cavalier goalie.
Immie Gillgrass redirected a Lanckohr strike into the back of the net to give Wake Forest a 1-0 lead with 10 minutes left in the first half.
- In addition to Lanckohr, Grace Delmotte was also credited with an assist.
  - Both Lanckohr (first) and Delmotte (tied for second) were among the top passers in the conference at the conclusion of the regular season.
- This marked Gillgrass' third goal of the season.
Wake Forest's defense continued to swarm Virginia over the latter minutes of the period as the Deacs headed into the halftime break with a one-goal advantage for the second-straight match.
- The Deacs controlled much of the second quarter, receiving three corners and attempting three shots while Virginia did not get off one attempt for the final 15 minutes of the first half.
Three minutes into the second half, Todd notched her first save of the match, preserving Wake Forest's one-goal lead.
Rachel Thetford fired a saved shot from Gillgrass into the back of the net to double Wake Forest's lead (2-0) at the 35-minute mark.
- This marked the freshman's second goal of the season.
Moments later, a Virginia attacker deflected a long pass into the back of the net to trim Wake Forest's advantage back to one (2-1) with just under eight minutes left in the third.
The Demon Deacons' defensive penalty corner unit denied Virginia's first corner of the second half as Nat Friedman blocked the ensuing Virginia shot.
Todd stopped Virginia on the baseline, deflecting the ball out of the bounds with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers tied the match with less than two minutes to go in regulation before ultimately securing the win with the golden goal in the 61st minute.

Head Coach Jennifer Averill - "That was a gut-wrenching loss. It's hard. I think we gave the game away in the last three minutes, which is really unfortunate. We played smarter games, where we know game management and what to do so that's hard for them. I'm super proud of our ability to rebound from not playing well tactically yesterday and showing up today and showing the abilities that this team has. It's time to get tournament ready."

2022 Season Highlights

Head coach Jennifer Averill earned her eighth career ACC Coach of the Year award in 2022. Averill has also taken home the prestigious honor in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2014.
Sky Caron and Meike Lanckohr headlined Wake Forest's All-ACC honorees, landing on the first team. Grace Delmotte, Nat Friedman and Ellie Todd rounded out award winners as the trio received second team honors.
- This marks Lanckohr and Friedman's third-straight All-ACC honor, while Caron (2019 at Boston College) and Delmotte (2020-212) have previously received recognition from the league. Todd is one of seven freshmen in the conference to earn the first All-ACC honor of their careers.
- Wake Forest and North Carolina each placed five honorees on the all-league teams, the most in the ACC.
The Wake Forest field hockey team was ranked No. 8 in the 10th 2022 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll. This marked Wake Forest's highest ranking of the season. Additionally, this marked the 46th-straight NFCHA poll the Deacs have been featured in. Since the poll's inception in 2018, Wake Forest has appeared in 49 of the 50 weekly polls.
Averill secured her 400th win as the head coach of Wake Forest Field Hockey on Friday, Sept. 16 with the Deacs' 4-3 victory against Richmond. In 31 seasons at the helm of the program, Averill holds an overall record of 411-223-3 and an overall mark of 431-255-6 in 32 years of coaching.
The Demon Deacons' victory in the quarterfinals against Duke helped this year's squad become the first Wake Forest team since 2008 to win at least 15 matches in a season.
The Deacs ended the regular season winners of 14 of its last 16 matches. During that span, Wake Forest outscored opponents 47-14.
The Deacs defeated three top-10 teams during the regular season, with the trio of victories coming against ACC opponents.
In addition to its five conference victories, Wake Forest posted a 9-3 record against non-league opponents, outscoring them 34-16.
Wake Forest posted win streaks of five (Sept. 2-Sept. 18) and six (Sept. 25-Oct. 14) this season.
The Deacs gave up less than two goals in its last 12 matches of the regular season. Overall, the Deacs have held opponents to two goals or less in 17 matches this season.
The Demon Deacons finished the regular season leading the league in penalty corners (127), goals off corners (17) and assists (52), while ranking second in shots and third in scoring.
Wake Forest has outscored opponents 18-2 in the first quarter this season and found the back of the net first in all 15 of its victories.
Meike Lanckohr and Grace Delmotte are among the best passers in the ACC. Lanckohr led the conference in assists (12) after posting her third multi-assist of the season against Syracuse. Delmotte is tied for second (10).
Freshman goalkeeper Ellie Todd has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice this season. Todd earned a trio of wins during Wake Forest's perfect week against Davidson, No. 7 Louisville and VCU, notching seven stops while allowing just two goals in 180 minutes of action in goal. The Boston, Mass. native was instrumental in Wake Forest's ACC victory over the nationally-ranked Cardinals as Todd posted her third shutout of the season, making five defensive stops in the Demon Deacons' first top-10 win since 2018. Todd earned the first conference accolade of her career after pitching her third shutout of the season in Wake Forest's ACC home-opening victory against No. 22 Duke on Sunday, Oct. 2. The Boston, Mass. native tallied five saves in 60 minutes of game action in goal to earn the seventh win of her freshman season. Todd registered a career performance in the cage in Wake Forest's ACC opener at North Carolina. The Boston, Mass. native became the first Demon Deacon to tally double-digit saves in a match since 2015, registering a career-high 12 stops. Todd currently is tied for the most saves in a single match this season across the ACC and ranks second in overall saves this season.
In addition to her conference-leading assist mark, Lanckohr ranks fourth in points and sixth in goals. The All-American earned the second conference player of the week nod of her career after leading the Deacs in a perfect 2-0 weekend on the Wake Forest's West Coast road trip with a team-high 12 points, netting a team-high five goals and two assists. Lanckohr received All-America and All-ACC first team accolades for the second-straight season in 2021 after posting a team-best and career-high 20 points with a career-high nine goals and two assists in 2021. Overall, the Voerendaal, Netherlands native finished tied for second in the ACC in goals, while ranking third in points per game (1.54).
A number of Deacs have been able to net goals this season as 11 players have scored multiple goals this season: Meike Lanckohr (10), Hannah Maxwell (8), Sky Caron (8), Ashley Hart (6), Grace Delmotte (5), Anna Gwiazdziski (5), Maggie Dickman (2), Abby Carpenter (2), Brooke McCusker (2), Immie Gillgrass (3) and Rachel Thetford (2).
Lee Ann Gordon competed with the U-21 Field Hockey US Women's National Team squad in the Uniphar 5-Nations Tournament in Dublin, Ireland as Team USA took home a bronze medal. On July 26, Nat Friedman was named to the 2022-23 U.S. Women's National Team, heading to Charlotte for training camp on Sunday, July 31-Thursday, Aug. 4.

Up Next
The field for the 2022 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 10 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.

Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and @WakeHockey on social media for postseason schedule, news and information.

2022 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament

Opening Round
- Wednesday, Nov. 9
  - Begins by 2 p.m.
First Round
- Friday, Nov. 11
  - Noon for seeded games and 2:30 p.m. for non-seeded games
Second Round
- Sunday, November 13
  - 1 p.m.
Championship Rounds
- Friday, Nov. 18- Sunday, Nov. 20
  - Sherman Complex (Storrs, CT)

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Second-Seeded Wake Forest Falls in Overtime to Third-Seeded Virginia in ACC Field Hockey Championship Semifinals

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Immie Gillgrass

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Second-Seeded Wake Forest Falls in Overtime to Third-Seeded Virginia in ACC Field Hockey Championship Semifinals

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