No. 21 Wake Forest Faces Utah to Open Regular Season
Deacons and Utes meet for first time on Friday night

Aug. 21, 2008

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After a pair of impressive exhibition victories, the Wake Forest women's soccer team opens its regular season schedule on Friday night at Spry Stadium against the Utah Utes. Opening kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET).

"We're cautiously optimistic after the two scrimmages," head coach Tony da Luz said. "We're excited to play somebody for real. Utah will be a good test. They're a good team with a lot of different weapons."

The Deacons were impressive in posting a pair of exhibition wins, defeating Appalachian State 6-1 and shutting out Vanderbilt 5-0. In the preseason opener against Appalachian State, junior Sarah Winslow scored three goals, while senior Amanda Lebo scored twice and added two assists to lead Wake to an easy victory. In the exhibition finale against Vanderbilt, Jill Hutchinson tallied twice and Amanda Barasha made six saves to help the Deacons to the shutout victory.

"We were happy with scoring 11 goals in two games," da Luz said. "We still left a lot of opportunities on the field. I still want to see more in our team possession and our defending as a team. We had a lot of room for improvement in those areas. We addressed that over the last couple of days and I think it will be much improved."

A member of the Mountain West Conference, Utah will play its first game of 2008 against the Deacons. The Utes return eight starters and 15 letterwinners from last year's team that finished with a 12-5-4 overall record and a 3-2-2 record in the MWC. Senior Katy Reineke leads the Utes after finishing 2007 second on team in goals (9), assists (7) and points (25).

"Utah plays a good style of soccer," da Luz added. "They will have a good level of athleticism. I think it's going to be a good game to watch because both teams will try to play a good style of soccer."

Wake Forest has fared well in season lid-lifters, posting a 7-4-3 record. The Deacs have posted an impressive 12-2 record in home openers. Last season, the Deacons dropped a 2-1 decision to San Diego in the season opener.

The Deacons and Utes will be meeting for the first time in school history. Wake Forest is perfect all-time against members of the Mountain West Conference with a 3-0 record.

Live stats, along with a recap and stats of the season opener will be available on wakeforestsports.com.

-WakeForestSports.com-