Head Coach Jen Averill sat at her desk quite pleased. It was obvious her team's performance following a tough loss to James Madison gave her something to smile about. The field hockey team raced through the week, defeating 4th-ranked Louisville, 20th- ranked Delaware and Radford. With the three-game winning streak, the Deacs improve their record to 4-2 and now await the arrival of top ranked Maryland in Kentner Stadium Sept. 21.

"I think this group is a fun group to say the least," Averill said. "They've shown that they definitely rise to the level of their competitors. The games that we've lost thus far I think we've outplayed our performance and just got burned by our own mishaps and unraveling. I think we did a much better job."

The Deacs kicked off their winning streak by knocking off the 4th--ranked Louisville Cardinals on Sept. 13. Wake Forest jumped out to a 1-0 lead when sophomore Kelly Dostal scored on an assist from senior Maria Whitehead less than four minutes into the game. Freshman Maeke Boreel then added an unassisted goal to give the Demon Deacons a 2-0 lead. However, the Cardinals came roaring back as Desiree Miller took an assist from Jen Welgosh to pull the Cards within one with 3:35 remaining in the first half. Then cardinal Kim Hughes netted an unassisted goal with 27 seconds remaining in the first half to tie the game at 2-2 at halftime.

Coming out of the locker room the Deacs took control and Junior Emily Ruth capitalized on a penalty corner to give Wake Forest a 3-2 lead eight minutes into the second half. The Cardinals, though, would not concede and responded with an unassisted goal a minute later to tie the game at 3-3. Dostal, who was named this week's ACC Player of the Week, would score the go ahead goal on a Wake Forest penalty corner from Whitehead and Heather Aughinbaugh with 10 minutes remaining in the contest, giving the Demon Deacons a 4-3 victory. Wake Forest out-shot Louisville 13-10 and held a 9-3 penalty corner advantage.

In their second match of the weekend, Wake Forest had their way with Delaware on Sept. 14 as they out-shot the Fighting Blue Hens 16-2 and won the penalty corner battle 11-3. The Deacs got on the board first when Ruth scored off a feed from Dostal 6:25 into the game. Fifteen minutes later, sophomore Claire Laubach was awarded a penalty stroke and converted for her first career goal. At the 23:38 mark, freshman Ariel Meyers scored the first goal of her career on an unassisted tally. Delaware would then get on the board with ten minutes left to play in the first half closing the gap to 3-1 at halftime.

However, the Deacs did not relinquish the onslaught as they came out firing once again in the second half. Dostal took a feed from Lawhon and found the back of the net. Meyers then netted her second goal of the game at the 48:14 mark when she scored off a pass from senior Maria Whitehead increasing the Deacs' lead to 5-1.

Delaware would score again, but Dostal closed out the shellacking with her second goal of the game to give the Deacs a 6-2 victory.

On Sept. 18 Wake Forest slaughtered Radford 7-0 after waiting 40 minutes for a rain delay. Dostal started things quickly by scoring off a penalty corner in the first minute of play.

Fifteen minutes later Dostal found Aughinbaugh to take a 2-0 lead. Ruth then scored back to back goals before the half to increase the Deacs' lead to 4-0. In the second half Doton took control and scored on two unassisted goals to seal the 7-0 victory. The Deacs were all over the stat sheet, outshooting the Highlanders 27-1 and registering 13 penalty corners to Radford's three.

Though Averill is pleased with her team's current performance she says there is more work to be done.

"We are not in midseason form and I think we humble ourselves with film," Averill said. With intense practices and constant preparation, this team is chomping at the bit to prove their capabilities.

Of course they will have no better opportunity than Sept. 21 when top-ranked Maryland comes into Kentner Stadium.

The Deacs lost to the Terrapins in the finals of the ACC tournament last season as well as a double overtime loss in the Final Four. There is no question they are hungry for payback.

"It's going to be a very emotional match," Ridd said. "Obviously we have a lot of pride on the line and a ton of desire going into this match."

You can candy-coat the true emotions and intensity however you like, but one thing is for certain. Come 1 p.m. on Sept. 21 this game will not be played with rankings, records or titles in mind.