Continuing down their path of dominance, the 3rd-ranked field hockey team made a trip up to Boston and defeated two more opponents over the weekend and Davidson on Oct. 9. The Deacs handed Harvard a 3-2 loss on Oct. 6, Massachusetts an 8-0 shellacking on Oct. 7 and Davidson a 4-0 whipping on Oct. 9, improving their record to 10-2 (3-0 ACC).

Similar to the UNC game last week, the Deacs found themselves once again forced to come from behind in the Harvard match. Eleven minutes into the game, Harvard's Kate McDavitt converted a rebound off a penalty corner to give the Crimson a 1-0 lead.

"We came out a little flat and Harvard certainly was I thought a great contender and a great opponent," Head Coach Jen Averill said. "They were beating us to a lot of 50-50 balls and just out-hustled us in the first half; that was blatant."

The lead would not last long however, as less than five minutes later Wake Forest junior midfielder Kelly Doton scored the unassisted equalizer off a penalty corner. Senior Maria Whitehead was a key element in sparking the team and helping the Deacs find their groove.

"Maria Whitehead really stepped it up and we pulled her off the front line to play her at midfield," Averill said. "She did a great job for us there and was a real spark in kind of settling us and getting some things going."

With less than three minutes remaining in the first half, Doton was once again involved, this time feeding freshman Maeke Boreel, who fired it past Harvard goalie Katie Zacarian to put the Deacs on top 2-1.

The second half of play saw 25 minutes of scoreless hockey before the Deacons would register another goal. On a penalty corner, senior Heather Aughinbaugh pushed the ball out to Whitehead, who laid it on a silver platter for junior back Lucy Shaw. Shaw pounded the ball into the back of the cage giving the Deacs a 3-1 lead. Harvard would mount a comeback as McDavitt found another rebound with 1:07 remaining to cut the lead to 3-2. That would be all the Crimson could muster however, as the Deacs were able to fend off any scoring threat in the final minute of play.

"It certainly wasn't one of our best performances," Averill said. "We got away with an ugly win and we will take it, but that is one of the best things about playing schools out of conference is it teaches you a lot about yourself and maybe there were some weaknesses that we need to work on."

Wake Forest junior goalkeeper and reigning ACC Player of the Week Katie Ridd made seven saves in the win, while Zacarian had 10 stops. The Deacs outshot Harvard, by a slim 16-14 margin and had 13 penalty corners to Harvard's nine.

Coming off a struggling performance against Harvard the Deacs returned to form with their whitewashing of Massachusetts. It took the Deacs almost 15 minutes to get on the board, when Whitehead scored an unassisted goal. Less than two minutes later, Doton followed suit to put the Deacons ahead 2-0. Aughinbaugh took a feed from sophomore Kelly Dostal off a penalty corner and scored her third goal of the season. With just over 11 minutes remaining in the first, Doton found Dostal, who beat UMass goalie Christine Tocco. Junior Katie Ackerman finished off the first half scoring with a goal off a pass from Emily Ruth, putting the Deacs ahead, 5-0.

"We talked for a good hour after the Harvard game about our possession game and really wanted to make sure that was the first thing we took care of," Averill said.

The Deacs continued their high level of play in the second half as Dostal notched her second goal of the game in the 41st minute. One minute later freshman Kelly Wood scored her first career goal on a feed from Doton. Ruth then recorded an unassisted tally to cap off the 8-0 win and a solid weekend performance.

Wake Forest goalkeepers Katie Ridd and Merrilee Robbins combined for three saves and the UMass tandem of Tocco and Ashley Egland made nine. Wake Forest outshot UMass, 26-4 and won the penalty corner battle 8-0.

In the Davidson match the Deacs outshot the Wildcats 40-0 on their way to a solid victory. First half goals were registered by Whitehead and Dostal. The Wildcats defense held tough, but the Deacs were clearly too overpowering. In the second half Aughinbaugh and Boreel scored to end the onslaught.

After winning nine straight games one might wonder if the Deacs still have their competitive drive heading into their game against Penn State on Oct. 12.

"I think they have a great appetite É," Averill said. "They are going to be fired up to play Wednesday night and they are going to be jacked-up to play Penn State on Saturday."

The Deacs play 6th-ranked Penn State at James Madison University at 2 pm in Harrisonburg, Va.