Wake Forest Drops Heartbreaker in Opening Match

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Battling for 80 minutes, the No. 18 Wake Forest field hockey team fell 1-0 (3-2 shootout) to the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes on Friday afternoon at Phyllis Ocker Field.

Wake Forest (0-1, 0-0- ACC) matched Iowa (1-0, 0-0 Big 10) in penalty corners with both squads drawing five apiece.

In her Wake Forest debut, freshman Lena Keller led the Deacs with a pair of shots, while Ashley Hart, Fay Janse, Mia Montag, Mia Schoenbeck and Georgia Leary all ripped a shot against the Hawkeyes.

Janse and Schoenbeck both converted their strokes in the shootout period.

Junior goalie Ellie Todd finished the contest with six saves, keeping Iowa out of the cage for the entirety of regulation.

How It Happened

Wake Forest created the first chance with a penalty corner midway through the first quarter.
- Freshman Lena Keller ripped the first shot of the year but was blocked by the Hawkeye defense.
The Deacs defense held Iowa without a shot over the first 15 minutes of play.
Sophomore Georgia Leary put the Deacs first shot on frame with a drive that forced the Iowa keeper into action five minutes into the second quarter of play.
Iowa drew their first penalty corner with just under two minutes remaining in the first half.
- Junior Ellie Todd made a great save diving to her left to keep Iowa off the board for her first save of the year.
Facing four attempts from the Hawkeyes over the final two minutes of the first half, the Deacs back line was up to the challenge to keep it 0-0 after two quarters of play.
Iowa got a pair of shots off in the third quarter with both attempts being blocked by the Wake Forest defense.
The Deacs drew their second corner with 5:30 left in the contest and looked to have taken the lead on a great shot by freshman Mia Montag, but the goal was taken off the board after video review.
Less than a minute later, Wake Forest worked to earn another penalty corner.
- Sophomore Mia Schoenbeck's shot at the top of the circle was blocked by the Iowa defense.
The chances kept coming for the Deacs late in the match as Wake Forest drew their third penalty corner of the fourth quarter with just under three minutes left in regulation.
Todd turned away an Iowa attempt with under two minutes left for her second save to keep things scoreless.
- Her third save was massive as Todd sent a last-ditch effort with under five seconds left in regulation to send the match to overtime at 0-0.
Wake Forest came out as the aggressor in the first overtime period getting off a pair of shots while holding Iowa without a shot over the first 10-minute extra time frame.
Todd secured her fourth save of the afternoon two minutes into the second overtime period.
With under 30 seconds left in the second overtime period, freshman Lena Keller sent a shot high off Wake's fifth penalty corner of the match to send the game into a shootout.
Iowa took the match with a 3-2 victory in the shootout period.

Quotables
"It was an incredible game between two teams that left it all on the field. We have plenty to celebrate and also grow from with this type of game. Each of our lines is solid and we will continue to grind and improve as the year goes on but this was a really good first step for our team." - head coach Jen Averill

Up Next
Wake Forest will wrap up the 2024 ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Sunday, Sept. 1 against No. 12 Michigan at 2:00 p.m. at Phyllis Ocker Field. The match will stream live on Big 10 Network Plus.

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Team Stats

Lena Keller

Ashley Hart

Faye Janse

Mia Montag

Players Mentioned

Ashley Hart

Lena Keller

Georgia Leary

Mia Montag

Mia Schoenbeck

Ellie Todd

Wake Forest Athletics