October 13, 1998

The Wake Forest women's soccer team, ranked 19th in the country this week by Soccer News, continues its six-game homestand with matches against NC State and UNC Greensboro this weekend at Spry Stadium. The Demon Deacons and Wolfpack will square off on Friday night at 7 p.m. while the game with the Spartans is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.

The match with UNC Greensboro will be the final non-conference tune up of the season as the remaining three games are all against Atlantic Coast Conference competition. Wake Forest is currently on a season-long four-game winning streak which has vaulted the Deacons into the national top 25.

WEEK SIX RECAP
Wake Forest continued their winning ways with two more important regional victories last week as the Demon Deacons defeated UNC Charlotte, 4-2, and Duke (4-1). Wake Forest's record now stands at 9-3-1 overall, 2-1-0 in the ACC.

On Thursday the Demon Deacons dominated play throughout the game with UNC Charlotte, outshooting the 49ers 11-5 as Sarah Kate Noftsinger scored two goals for the Deacs. Christie Melby and Anne Shropshire also added goals in the game.

The Deacs continued their dominating style of play on Sunday against Duke in a 4-1 victory. Wake Forest outshot the Blue Devils 20-8 Emily Taggart scored two goals and Stacy Roeck and Rachael Lewis added one goal each. Wake Forest scored at least four goals for the third consecutive game and tallied three or more goals for the fourth straight contest.

SHROPSHIRE CONTINUES ASSAULT ON RECORD BOOK
Junior midfielder Anne Shropshire continues to add her name to the Wake Forest record book this season. Most recently, Shropshire set a new career mark for goals scored against LSU and now owns 17 goals in her career. The previous mark was held by teammate Julie Scott, who owns 15 career goals but now primarily plays in the backfield.

Earlier this season at the Irish Key Bank Classic, the Lexington, Kty., product moved into first place on Wake Forest's career scoring list. She now owns 22 points this season and 55 career points. The previous record holder was Cheryl Zimmermann who totaled 43 points in four years from 1994-97, while Shropshire accomplished the feat in just over two years.

Shropshire set yet another career mark earlier this season with her two-assist performance at Davidson. Now with eight assists this year, Shropshire has raised her career total to 21 and moved into first place on Wake Forest's career list category as well. The previous record holder was Zimmermann who tallied 15 assists in her career.

Shropshire, who led the Deacons in assists last fall as well, has set a new school record for assists in a single season (8).

DEACS EARN AWARDS AT ACC-SEC CHALLENGE
Four Demon Deacons were named to the all-tournament team at the ACC-SEC Challenge after Wake Forest posted a perfect 2-0 record. Anne Shropshire, Stacy Roeck, Stefanie Mathews and Jessen Snyder all earned the honor with their outstanding play. Shropshire led the squad with three goals and one assist in two games, while Roeck netted the game-winning goal in both contests. Mathews tallied two assists on the weekend and Snyder was the anchor of a Wake Forest defense that surrendered just two goals and limited opponents to seven shots in two games.

For her efforts, Shropshire was also tabbed as the ACC's Player of the Week.

LINEUP SHUFFLE BRINGS IMMEDIATE SUCCESS
A new look in the lineup from head coach Tony da Luz brought instant results two weeks ago at the ACC-SEC Challenge. Still searching for that "right combination," da Luz may have just found it with his most recent moves.

Anne Shropshire moved from the midfield to join Stefanie Mathews at the forward position, and those two combined for four goals and eight assists in four games. Emily Taggart and Christie Melby moved back to midfield positions where they joined previous holdovers Sarah Kate Noftsinger and Meghan Suddes, while Rachael Lewis dropped to the backfield to team with current defenders Jessen Snyder, Stacy Roeck and Colleen Bradley.

This new look was immediately successful as Wake Forest has outscored their last four opponents 16-5 and outshot them 86-20.

FRESHMEN OF INFLUENCE
Midway through the 1998 season, the Wake Forest freshman class has certainly made its presence felt. The four field players - F Emily Taggart (3 goals, 2 assists), MF Sarah Kate Noftsinger (3 g, 5 a), MF Stacy Roeck (6 g) and F Rachel Parri (2 g, 2 a) - have accounted for 14 goals and nine assists so far this season.

GK Erin Regan, too, has made her mark in goal for the Deacs. After sitting out the season opener with a strained quad, she started against South Carolina and allowed just one goal in 120 minutes. She made 12 saves against No. 3 Notre Dame in the Irish Key Bank Classic and now owns a 1.82 GAA.

The five players have combined to make 47 starts this season.

SNYDER ANCHORS THE DEFENSE
With senior Jessen Snyder manning the sweeper position, head coach Tony da Luz has the comfort of knowing that his defense is in good hands (or feet). A four-year veteran of the program, Snyder has appeared in 77 games in her career and owns 76 career starts. She is quickly approaching the Wake Forest record for games started in a career (79, set by Cheryl Zimmermann).

Snyder was asked to move from her midfield position of a year ago to the backfield prior to the season. She has not only accepted her new role as a defender but has also excelled at her new position, helping the Deacs allow an average of just 1.42 goals per game - the second best mark in the ACC. Wake Forest owns three shutouts this season as well.

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

INSIDE THE ACC STATISTICS
The Demon Deacons have several players listed among the ACC's statistical leaders. Junior Anne Shropshire is currently tied for second in the league standings with 0.62 assists per game, ranks 7th with 1.69 points per game and ranks 9th with 0.54 goals per game. Senior Stefanie Mathews ranks 9th with 0.54 assists per game. Freshman goalkeeper Erin Regan ranks 5th in GAA (1.82) and second in saves per game (5.40). As a team, Wake Forest ranks 3rd in scoring defense (1.42), 4th in shutouts per game (0.23) and 3rd in scoring offense (2.69).

ALSO WORTH NOTING...
Senior Stefanie Mathews was selected to the All-Tournament team at the Irish Key Bank Classic after her performance in the two games vs. Missouri and No. 3 Notre Dame. Mathews assisted one of Anne Shropshire's two goals against the Tigers . . . Senior Andrea Pelletier suffered a broken wrist in the final minutes of the Missouri game and may be lost for the season. Pelletier had appeared in six of the first eight games as a backup at the forward position . . . After redshirting in 1997, junior Susie Nettelbeck scored her first goal since the 1996 season last weekened against LSU . . . the five goals scored against LSU were the most scored by a Tony da Luz coached Wake Forest team . . . Wake Forest is ranked #19 this week and has been listed among the nation's top 25 teams at various points in each of the last three years . . . the Demon Deacons played their final road game of the season (at UNC Charlotte on Oct. 8) before playing their first home game in 1998 (vs. Duke on Oct. 11).