Wake Forest women’s soccer head coach Tony da Luz was pleased to go into the two-game, four-day New England road trip with plenty of rested legs. Although not under the most ideal circumstances, the Demon Deacons will head back to North Carolina also well rested for their next match.
The match against No. 23 Brown was not played on Sunday afternoon after thunderstorms in the Providence area forced postponement. Two hours after the ranked matchup was set to kickoff, the match was canceled.
According to Wake Forest Athletics, the matchup between Brown and Wake Forest will not be rescheduled. There is the possibility that Wake Forest will schedule an additional match with another team before the end of the season.
The trip to Rhode Island was not an entire washout, however, as the Demon Deacons beat the University of Rhode Island Rams 3-1 on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Wake Forest jumped out to an early lead thanks to Caiya Hanks and Alex Wood scoring goals within two minutes of each other. Both sophomore forwards now have three goals on the season. Junior defender Tyla Ochoa assisted on Hanks’ goal in the 22nd minute, while Hanks returned the favor to Wood in the 24th.
Neither team would attempt another shot for the rest of the half, and Wake Forest went into the break with a 4-0 shot advantage and 2-0 lead. URI struck first in the second half with a 47th-minute goal by Cristina Sallent.
“We started the game on fire — creating several good chances in building the 2-0 lead,” said da Luz. “Then, we let our foot off the gas to end the half. We had chances early in the second half to secure the game but missed opportunities. We committed a lazy foul, and Rhode Island capitalized on the free kick.”
Wake Forest would snap back into focus, outshooting the Rams 9-3 for the rest of the match and winning the corner differential 6-2.
UNC transfer Emily Murphy has quickly made herself comfortable in old gold and black, notching third goal of the season during the 68th minute off another Hanks assist.
“Emily Murphy was excellent tonight in dictating the attack and deserved the third goal,” da Luz said. “Caiya Hanks was really dangerous, as well.”
Wake Forest (6-0-1) will face No. 11 Notre Dame (4-1-2), their first conference matchup of the season and first against a ranked opponent, on Friday, Sept. 15 in South Bend, Ind. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
