Kennesaw State University Athletics

KENNESAW, Ga. – The Kennesaw State women’s soccer team will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C. to compete in the first round of the 2009 Women’s College Cup this Friday evening. This trip marks the second time in the last three years that the Owls have earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 14-seed Owls will take on the No. 3-seed Demon Deacons, who ended their 2009 regular season campaign with a 13-5-2 overall record and a No. 10 national ranking. In their last outing, Wake Forest fell, 1-0, in overtime to No. 19 Virginia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference quarterfinals.

This is Wake Forest’s 13th consecutive season advancing to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, the Demon Deacons defeated Morehead State, 2-0, in the first round before falling to James Madison, 1-0, in the second round.

The Owls are no strangers themselves to the postseason, making appearances in the Division II National Championships in 2002 and their national championship season of 2003. Since becoming a Division I program, Kennesaw State earned a bid to the national tournament in 2007 where they lost a first round match to Florida State, 3-0.

“We’re a different team this year,” said senior defender Bridget Gaughan. “Since some of us have already been to the tournament in 2007, we know what to expect and what to prepare for. We’re going in looking for a win.”

Senior forward Caitlin Dingle leads Kennesaw State. A First Team All A-Sun selection, she leads the Owls with eight goals and 22 points. Freshman defender Jade Dempster is second on the team with five goals and 15 points while Kristin Marietta and Kristin Kranick have four goals apiece.

Junior Staci Pugh has started every match in goal for the Owls this season. The A-Sun Tournament Most Valuable Player, Pugh has only allowed 19 goals on the year and has tallied 73 saves. Even though she did not play in 2007 due to a redshirt, she feels that she is just as prepared as her teammates that have.

“Our team is ready,” added Pugh. “We have worked all year for this moment and making it here isn’t enough, we want to win.”

Seniors Jill Hutchinson and Kaley Fountain lead the Wake Forest attack. Hutchinson has a team-high 13 goals and 29 points on the year while Fountain has 10 goals and 28 points with a team high eight assists.

Two goalkeepers have shared time between the posts. Junior Amanda Barasha has played in 15 matches and has 28 saves while senior Laura Morse has played in 15 games and has tallied 19 saves.

This is the first-ever match-up between the two teams. The Owls are winless in four matches against ACC teams while Wake Forest is 2-0 against A-Sun opponents.

Kennesaw State will take on the Demon Deacons at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 at Spry Stadium. The winner of that match will take on the winner of the Loyola (Md.)/West Virginia match on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1:00 p.m.

The Wake Forest Tournament Central is now up. Click below to find game times, scores and live stats:
http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/spec-rel/wake-09-ncca-w-soccer.html.

Tickets may be purchased by calling the WFU Ticket Office at (336) 758-3322, online at WakeForestSports.com or at the Spry Stadium ticket office on the day of the game.