Sept. 21, 1999

DEMON DEACON FACTS
1999 Record: 6-1, 2-0 ACC
National Ranking: #16 (NSCAA)
Head Coach: Tony da Luz
Record at WF: 30-16-3 (3rd yr)
Career Record: 76-58-6 (8th yr)
Assistant: Kelly Walbert

DEMON DEACONS CONTINUE ACC PLAY AT NC STATE
Coming off an impressive two-game sweep of Atlantic Coast Conference foes Clemson and Florida State last weekend, the Wake Forest women's soccer team will take six days off from competition before returning to conference play this weekend. The Demon Deacons will visit NC State on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Raleigh.

The Demon Deacons, who are ranked 16th nationally this week by the NSCAA, are now 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC after picking up the wins over the Tigers (2-1) and Seminoles (2-1). Wake Forest is currently in a three-way tie for first place in the ACC standings with North Carolina and Virginia.

The Deacs are under the guidance of head coach Tony da Luz, the 1998 ACC Coach of the Year.

THE INJURY BUG UPDATE
With a roster of just 19 players for the 1999 season, the Demon Deacons can ill afford to lose players to injuries for any extended period of time. The Deacs have already suffered their fair share of injuries through the early part of the season, but the report from the training room appears to be very positive for the upcoming week.

The most serious concern lies with junior midfielder Christie Melby, who had made her return to the Demon Deacon lineup on Sept. 3 at Air Force in highly dramatic fashion by scoring two goals in two games off the bench. Melby, who suffered a torn ACL during 1999 spring practice drills as well as prior to the 1997 season, reinjured her knee in practice two weeks ago. However, team doctors will reexamine her this week to determine if she will be able to return to active duty.

Sophomore midfielder Emily Taggart, the 1998 ACC Rookie of the Year, suffered a sprained MCL in her right knee at Air Force on September 5th which has forced her out of the lineup in each of the last four contests. The injury to Taggart is not considered serious, and she will likely return to the lineup on Oct. 1 at Florida.

TAGGART WINS THE GOLD
Sophomore midfielder Emily Taggart spent her summer helping the United States capture a gold medal in international competition. While the U.S. National team was busy capturing the World Cup, Taggart was a member of the U-18 national team that competed in the Pan-Am Games in July and August and won the gold medal.

DEMON DEACONS & ACC SUCCESS
After winning just four ACC matches in the program's first four years of existence, Wake Forest took a major stride forward last fall when the Demon Deacons posted a 4-3 league record and finished in 4th place in the regular season.

The Deacs have carried that momentum into 1999 by opening the ACC season with two victories over Clemson and Florida State last weekend. Now spanning the last two seasons, Wake Forest owns an impressive 6-3 (.667) record against the ACC as opposed to the 4-23 (.148) mark posted in the program's first four years.

INSIDE THE ACC STATISTICS
The Demon Deacons have several players listed among the ACC's statistical leaders. Senior Anne Shropshire is ranked eighth in the league standings with 9 points, 8th with 3 goals and 6th with 3 assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Erin Regan is 1st in save percentage (.909), 1st in GAA (0.50) and 4th in shutouts. Regan also ranks 19th nationally with her 0.50 GAA.

As a team, Wake Forest is ranked 1st in scoring defense (0.57) and 3rd in scoring offense (2.30) within the ACC. The Demon Deacons are ranked 12th nationally in scoring defense.

IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Wake Forest women's soccer team is well represented in this week's national polls. The Demon Deacons are ranked 16th in the NSCAA coaches' poll, 12th by Soccer America, 16th by Soccer Buzz magazine, and 14th by Soccer Times - a poll voted on by a panel of 16 coaches across the nation.

SHROPSHIRE CONTINUES ASSAULT ON RECORD BOOK
Senior forward Anne Shropshire rewrote the Wake Forest record book last season as she set new single season records for goals, assists and points while also breaking the career marks in each of those categories, too.

She picked up in the first game of 1999 where she left off in 1998 by netting two goals and two assists to add to her school record career totals. Through the first seven games of the season, Shropshire now has 24 goals, 26 assists and 74 points in her WFU career, all school records.

FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE
Although we're just seven games into the 1999 season, the talented Wake Forest freshman class has already asserted itself as a key ingredient during the upcoming season. Five different freshmen have cracked the starting lineup this season, while combining to tally four goals and seven assists.

Forward Joline Charlton made the biggest impact of the rookie class as she has scored three goals and has two assists in the first seven games of the season. Also making the starting 11 this season are defender Liz McDowell, who score the game-winner at Air Force with under five minutes remaining in regulation, midfielder Lindsey Griffin, a playmaker who has three assists in seven games, midfielder Katie Johnson and defender Gabi Lieb.

ROECK ANCHORS THE DEFENSE
With last year's sweeper Jessen Snyder lost to graduation, head coach Tony da Luz has turned to sophomore Stacy Roeck as the Deacs' new anchor in the backfield.

Last fall Roeck started 20 of 21 games in the backfield, scoring seven goals and adding one assist. She was moved to the sweeper position for the 1999 season fall and immediately made her presence felt as she has helped the Deacs' hold opponents to a stingy 0.57 goals per game (4 goals in 7 games).

Although her name may not show up among the team's statistical leaders this season, Roeck may well be the most valuable player on the squad.