Demon Deacons end season with overtime loss
By Lisa Ferguson
Old Gold and Black Reporter

The Deacs finished their fall season falling 2-1 to William & Mary in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 16 in Charlottesville, Va.

Both teams had a few shots in the first half, but not until the 43rd minute did William and Mary forward Jordan Krieger get the Tribe on the board with an unassisted goal from 12 yards out.

The Deacs responded in the second half when senior forward Stacy Roeck netted a goal off a penalty kick after being knocked down in the penalty box.

The game went into overtime and in the 113th minute, Tribe defender Alison West put one in off a free kick from 20 yards out, ending the game and season for the Deacs. The Deacs fell to a record of 9-9-2 while the Tribe improved to 11-8-1.

William & Mary went on to play Virginia in the second round of the tournament but fell 4-1.

“The William & Mary game epitomized the whole season,” Head Coach Tony da Luz said.
“We outplayed the opponent but failed to put away our chances. We could have had them in the first 15 minutes but we let them hang on and eventually lost it.

“Well, we had plenty of chances and played very good soccer. But, for some reason, our chemistry’s not there.

“We learned some things about playing in big games. Our schedule was ranked third (in the nation) in difficulty.

“We just have to be mentally tougher to pull one-goal games out. We lost nine games and seven were one-goal games.”

Several Deac players earned notable distinctions for their efforts over the past season, with four players named to the All-ACC team. Seniors Stacy Roeck and Emily Taggart made the first team while senior Sara Kate Noftsinger was named to the second team and freshman Alli Hunt was named to the freshman All-ACC team.

The loss of the seniors will certainly be felt in the upcoming season. Taggart became the team’s all-time leading scorer, this year with Roeck not far behind.

Other standouts were sophomore defenders A.B. Robbins and Alena Thom and freshmen midfielders Hunt and April Raymer, and junior midfielder Gabi Lieb, who went from the position of substitute to starter this season, was among the squad’s most improved.
“She was the best player in the game against William & Mary. We’re looking forward to that for next year,” da Luz said.

The Deacs have just two expectations for the next season: discipline and unity. “We have to eliminate expectations on next season,” da Luz said.

“The only ones we have are to show up for practice, work hard on the field and in the weight room and carry it through till next season. We also have to build up team unity to carry us through the hard times.”

Although the Deacs will lose some key players, many underclassmen have proven their ability and will hopefully carry it through to the next season.