Soccer Drops Match to No. 7 Wake Forest 4-0
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The University of Miami women’s soccer team fell to seventh-ranked Wake Forest 4-0 at Spry Stadium Sunday.
Miami (5-2-0, 0-2-0 ACC) fell behind early in the afternoon matchup, as Katie Stengel’s goal in the third minute opened the scoring in favor of the hosts. The Demon Deacons (6-0-1, 1-0-1) tacked on scores in the 15th minute and 38th minute to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.
“As a collective group, we needed to work harder today,” head coach Mary-Frances Monroe said. “There were times of good soccer, but when you go down a goal to a good Wake Forest team in the first five minutes, it makes it hard to bounce back.”
The Hurricanes, paced up top by sophomore forward Jasmine Paterson (four shots) and freshman Gracie Lachowecki (two), were outshot by the Demon Deacons by a 17-11 margin. The visitors forced Wake Forest goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe into five saves on the afternoon, but were unable to break through for the second consecutive match.
“In this league, you need to finish your chances and be dangerous continuously throughout the game,” Monroe said. “We were unlucky not to finish on those opportunities today.”
Wake Forest capped the scoring in the 52nd minute on the second goal of the afternoon from midfielder Riley Ridgik. Freshman keeper Catalina Perez, who entered in relief of junior Emily Lillard (2-2-0), did not see any action for the final 12 minutes of the match.
Miami received 90-minute performances from Gianna Dal Pozzo, Tara Schwitter, Blake Stockton and Maddie Simms. Monroe pointed to Stockton and Simms as two of the more reliable contributors on the afternoon.
“Blake and Maddie did their jobs today and were successful,” Monroe said. “We need to get the entire team on the same page. We’re looking forward to our next two games and are excited to play in front of our home crowd again.”
The Hurricanes will continue their grueling conference schedule inside the friendly confines of Cobb Stadium, playing host to NC State Thurs., Sept. 19 and North Carolina Sun., Sept. 22.
