Mia Schoenbeck and Lauren Storey celebrate a goal in a 9-1 victory vs. UMass Lowell on Sunday.
The Wake Forest field hockey team hosted the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Sunday in a matchup that resulted in yet another dominating win. The Demon Deacons piled on five first-quarter goals to set the tone as Wake cruised to a 9-1 victory.
This win also marks head coach Jen Averill’s 450th, adding to her long list of accomplishments and placing her at eighth all-time among Division I field hockey coaches.
Coming off a 2-0 victory against Virginia Commonwealth University on Friday, Wake Forest looked to improve its dominance on both sides of the ball.
Against Mass, Storey highlighted the scoring with her second hat trick of the season and seventh goal overall. A beautiful defense-to-offense transfer up the field set Storey up perfectly to open up the scoring, with junior Faye Janse supplying the assist.
Junior Mia Schoenbeck dramatically ended the first quarter, dribbling into the circle and managing to get a shot past the UMass keeper with six-tenths of a second remaining for the buzzer beater.
A 13-4 edge in penalty corners for the Deacs helped build momentum early in the game, with Wake Forest converting two in the first quarter. The first came from sophomore standout Lauren Storey, who converted off an assist from sophomore captain Mia Montag with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Montag converted the second for her third goal of the season, with freshman Logan Marthinus supplying the assist.
Both Montag and Marthinus would later score unassisted goals in the second quarter.
“What a first quarter,” Averill said of the first 15 minutes of play. “The challenge [coming into the game] for the squad was how to continue to grow our connections with one another.”
UMass scored its lone goal with 8:56 left in the first half. Finding a penalty in the offensive circle resulted in a penalty corner for the River Hawks, where Karlijn Kerkhof found an opening past Wake Forest keeper Ellie Todd. It appeared they might have scored again with 52 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but after further review, it was ruled a no-goal.
Schoenbeck closed the scoring in the final minutes, converting a penalty stroke to make the score 9-1 after she was tripped in the defensive circle.
“The flow of the game really accentuated our strengths, and then really allowed us the opportunity to have different looks,” Averill said post-game.
Following the strong performances of this weekend, the Demon Deacons appear more than ready to face the challenging task of ACC play this season.
Wake Forest opens conference play at Syracuse on Friday, Sept. 19. First touch is set for 5 p.m. Eastern on ACC Network Extra.
