No. 19 Wake Forest Downs NC State 2-1 in Home Finale
Harrington, Hutchinson score goals in Deacon victory

Oct. 23, 2008

Box Score

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Bess Harrington and Jill Hutchinson scored goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half as No. 19 Wake Forest (10-5-0, 3-4-0 ACC) held on for a 2-1 victory over NC State (8-9-0, 0-7-0 ACC) in the Deacons' last regular season home game of 2008.

"It was a good win for us," head coach Tony da Luz said. "I thought we played some of our best soccer in a while. We possessed the ball really well. The team played well. We kept the ball and created a lot of good opportunities. We created enough good chances tonight to win."

The victory was a crucial one for the Deacons in the ACC race, as Wake Forest now has nine points in league play, good for seventh place. The top eight teams in the conference advance to the league tournament in Cary, N.C.

"The win was a huge step in the right direction," da Luz said. "Our goal is to win out so this is a step toward that goal. We're going to try to take care of Miami on Sunday and move on. Hopefully we'll not just be in the ACC Tournament, but hopefully we'll have a good seed and get set up for the NCAA Tournament."

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the first 45 minutes. Wake Forest had the better of the chances in the opening half, holding an 11-2 shot advantage. The Deacs had several quality chances, including a shot that went off the post from Taylor Norman, but Wake was unable to score.

It didn't take long for the Deacons to score in the second half as Bess Harrington broke the 0-0 deadlock in the 50th minute. A diving save by NC State goalkeeper Rachel Barnette off a shot from Allie Sadow set up a corner kick. On the corner kick taken by Jill Hutchinson, the ball found Bess Harrington two yards in front of the net and the junior midfielder found the back of the net to give Wake a 1-0 edge. The goal for Harrington was the first of her collegiate career.

Wake Forest added an insurance goal in the 55th minute. A cross from the right side of the field was misplayed by a Wolfpack player. Hutchinson took advantage of the opportunity, scoring her team-leading eighth goal of the season from six yards out to make the score 2-0.

NC State made the game interesting late as they cut the lead in half in the 85th minute. A cross from the right side of the field by Lindsay Vera set up Tanya Cain in front of the goal with a perfect scoring opportunity. Cain capitalized for her third goal of the year to trim the lead to 2-1.

NC State was unable to tally the equalizing goal in the final five minutes as the Wake Forest defense held strong to preserve the conference win.

Laura Morse picked up her seventh win of the season in goal for the Deacons, making one save. Barnette stayed busy in the game, making seven saves.

Wake Forest now leads the overall series against NC State 11-5-1 and the Deacons have won 11 of the last 12 meetings against the Wolfpack.

The Deacons close out the regular season with a three-game conference road trip. The road swing opens on Sunday as Wake Forest faces Miami at 1 p.m. (ET). The game will be shown live on ACC Select.