McFadyen, Rhea Score as Deacs Fall 4-2 to No. 4 Maryland
Sept. 22, 2012
Final Stats | Final Stats (.pdf)
By Currie McFayden, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@SIDeacons)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Down two goals at halftime, Jess McFadyen and Taylor Rhea each netted scores for No. 14 Wake Forest, but the comeback fell just short as the Deacs fell 4-2 to No. 4 Maryland at Kentner Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The loss drops the Demon Deacons to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in ACC play, while the Terrapins improve to 7-1 with a 2-0 mark against ACC opponents.
Both sides played evenly for much of the first half, as each tried to get a feel for their opponents. Kaitlyn Ruhf made a trio of saves in the first 10 minutes for the Deacs, but Taylor Rhea responded with a shot on goal of her own at the 11:14 mark that was saved by Maryland goalkeeper Natalie Hunter.
Ruhf came under fire again in the 25th minute as Jill Witmer launched three shots. The first went high and the second was blocked by a defender, but Ruhf made a great save on the third to keep the score level at 0-0.
The Terps broke the game open on a pair of goals by Alyssa Parker just 48 seconds apart on nearly identical plays. The first score, at 26:42, came on an excellent pass across the circle by Witmer that gave Parker a wide-open angle on the cage. The pair hooked up again at 27:30 on a mirror image of the first play, with Witmer's pass from the right side finding Parker open just to the left of the cage once again to give Maryland a 2-0 advantage at halftime.
Maryland added to their lead early in the second half on a well-executed penalty corner. Janessa Pope inserted the ball, and after a quick flurry of passes Steffi Schneid fired a shot past Ruhf for her first goal of the season to put the Terps up 3-0. Megan Frazer was also credited with an assist on the goal.
The Deacs would not go away quietly, however. Five minutes later, at the 46:56 mark, a scrum emerged in front of Maryland's cage following a penalty corner by Wake, and Kali Vicars tipped a deflection to Jess McFadyen, who then had a tip of her own to get Wake Forest on the board. The assist by Vicars was the first point of her collegiate career.
Witmer responded 10 minutes later for Maryland with her fifth goal of the season, catching a deflection off Ruhf just to the right of the cage and beating her on the rebound to give the Terps a 4-1 lead.
The final goal of the contest came off the stick of Taylor Rhea with just under 10 minutes remaining. McFadyen kicked the ball to Rhea in the center of the circle, who fired a blast into the top right corner of the cage to beat Hunter and seal the 4-2 final score.
Wake Forest will be back in action on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. as they host the Delaware Blue Hens (4-6, 0-0 CAA) in a non-conference clash that doubles as the final game of their nine-game homestand at Kentner Stadium. Live stats for the contest will be available here and a live video stream can be found here.
