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Nov. 16, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Second-seeded Wake Forest is headed to the NCAA Final Four for the ninth consecutive season after taking a 4-3 win over Virginia on Sunday in the quarterfinals at Kentner Stadium. Virginia (14-9) posted an early lead as Cavalier striker Paige Selenski added her 18th and 19th goals of the season to put UVA 2-0. With five minutes to play before halftime, Wake Forest (21-3) senior Michelle Kasold plowed through the scoring circle to send in an unassisted goal, keeping Wake Forest within one point of the Cavaliers. "That first goal in the first half was clutch to build our confidence," Wake Forest head coach Jennifer Averill said. "It showed the team how quickly we can comeback. It was a tremendous help to keep us focused." Less than a minute later, junior Hilary Moore picked the ball off a UVA attacker and rushed the Cavalier cage where Kasold was once again waiting in prime position. Kasold's second goal knotted the score at 2-2. But the Cavaliers weren't about to slow up before the half ended. In the 33rd minute, Kaitlyn Hiltz found herself with a rare open shot 12 yards out of the Wake Forest goal and slipped the ball past Wake Forest goalkeeper Crystal Duffield to put Cavaliers back in front 3-2. "We played Virginia earlier in the season and this time they threw a lot more at us," Kasold said. "We really had to adjust in the second half." Wake Forest came out of the locker room calm and collected, but the first 20 minutes of the second half continued to be a back and forth battle. Wake Forest goalkeeper Crystal Duffield had a tremendous game, recording five saves in the second half alone, including two saves in one-on-one situations. She racked up eight saves total, her second highest mark of the season.
In the 58th minute Hilary Moore fired a shot through traffic into the UVA goal and keeper Amy Desjadon sent the ball back out. Raisa Schiller picked up the ball and sent it into the corner of the cage to tie the game. With five minutes to play in regulation Wake Forest junior Kim Romansky ran the ball into Virginia territory. She made a quick pass to Moore in the center of the circle ran to the front of the cage where she was able to tap in Moore's return cross. The goal was Romansky's first game-winner of the season. "Everyone is fighting their hardest. You lose you go home. Everyone wants to stay," Kasold said. "Virginia came out and played extremely hard. They had a few more opportunities to score at the end of the game but we really fought for the win." Wake Forest will play 3-seed Syracuse (22-1) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET in Louisville. It will be the first Final Four appearance for the Orange. 2008 has been a breakthrough year for the team as it went undefeated through the first 14 matches, won the Big East Tournament and became the first team out of the ACC to climb to the top of the NFHCA Poll for the first time since September of 2004. Syracuse defeated Princeton 3-2 in double overtime in the quarterfinals.
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