WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – After setting several records, including best road mark, lowest team goals against average and most games played and tying the milestone for road unbeaten streak, the Morehead State women's soccer team's campaign concluded on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 defeat against Wake Forest at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
It was MSU's fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and third time meeting the Demon Deacons, falling each time.
Watch Eagle coach
Paul Cox as he discusses the game.
Second-seeded and third-ranked Wake Forest (13-3-3) wasted little time getting on the board as it scored less then two minutes into the game. Caiya Hanks collected the ball on the left side of the box, took two dribbles to the endline and slipped a pass around two defenders and into Anna Swanson, who extended her right left and redirected the ball across the goalmouth at the 1:47 mark. Hanks played a role in all four scores, finishing with two goals and two assists.
The hosts added three more goals in the first half, leading 4-0 with a 20-2 edge in shots at the intermission.
However, the final 45 minutes were a different story. Morehead State (9-8-6) managed to keep the Demon Deacons off the scoreboard, despite unleashing 11 shots. The Eagles kept the hosts off the scoreboard for virtually the game's final 65 minutes.
The key to MSU's second-half success was in part due to a change in the net as freshman goalkeeper
Claire Cress entered the game at halftime and made five saves.
Hanks recorded both the second and third goals, with assists from Emily Colton on both. The first came at 12:26 when she was able to get open on the right side of the box after a free kick, takes a few dribbles to the endline curls back to her left and rolled a left-footed shot across to the right post.
The third score came just two minutes and 23 seconds later. Wake started its attack from the back, got the ball to Emily Morris, who passed it to Colton, who spun off two defenders to get it to Dempsey Brown, whose one-timer found Hanks, who unleashed a blast from 14 yards out from the left side into the upper right corner of the net. Colton and Dempsey were both awarded assists.
The final tally was at 25:22. Hanks carried the ball down the left field side and once she got to the end line passed it across to the center of the box where she found Murphy at the 12-yard line, who rolled it past Bailey inside the right post.
MSU had its first offensive chance with just over 24 minutes remaining in the first half, but sophomore forward
Hedda Ornberg could only get off a soft shot begin surrounded by four Demon Deacons. She had another attempt that went left of the goal a few minutes later.
Ornberg had a breakaway in the 55th minute, but she was swarmed by the Demon Deacon defense and was stifled on her shot attempt. Freshman forward
Ava Peck won a 1v1 won battle in the Wake end and got off a shot in the 59th minute that was the team's first attempt on goal.
With just over 25 minutes remaining, freshman defender
Ella Fuller and WFU's Alex Wood get their feet tangled and a penalty kick was awarded. However, Wood's attempt ricocheted off the left post and the Eagles staved off the threat.
Wake Forest finished with a 30-5 edge in shots. It also had a 13-1 edge in attempts on goal. Both Demon Deacon totals were the most by an MSU opponent this season. WFU took all 11 of the game's corner kicks. Morehead State had a 5-3 edge in fouls, with the hosts owning the advantage in offside flags at three to one. Neither team received a card.
The four Demon Deacon goals were the most MSU had surrendered since giving up five in last year's NCAA Tournament contest with Florida State.
Ornberg took four of the Eagles' shots. Freshman forward
Ava Peck had the other. Cress had five saves and freshman goaltender
Lilly Bailey made four. Bailey suffered the loss and fell to 6-6-5 on the season.
Fourteen different Demon Deacons got off shots. Alex Wood came off the bench to tally a game-best five. Swanson and Hannah Johnson each tallied four.
Sophomore goalkeeper Valentina Amaral raised her record to 8-2-2. She played the first 45 minutes. Paige Nurkin relieved her and finished the game, corralling the team's lone save.
WFU held the possession for 76 percent of the game. The Eagles were on the Demon Deacon side of the field for just 15 percent of the night, while the hosts were on the attack in MSU's defensive zone for 79 percent of the contest.
It was the final contest in the careers of at least three Morehead State players, graduate student defenders
Anna Lohrer and Maddie Feldhaus, and senior midfielder/forward
Erin Fite.
See Cox talk about his senior class.
The Eagles ended the season with a 7-5-4 mark away from home, having dropped their last two matches. Despite Friday's setback, MSU captured its third straight season with at least a .500 record and tied for the second-most victories since 2014. It also tied for third fewest goals surrendered in a season with 26.
Several individuals made their marks in MSU's record book this year. Ornberg finished with 10 goals, which tied for sixth, and four game-winners, which tied for fifth. Fite tied for 10th with five assists. Bailey tied for sixth in shutouts with five (one shared) and was seventh in goals against average at 1.22.
WFU improved its record at Spry Stadium to 7-1-1 and has now posted an 8-1-1 mark in its last 10 games. The Demon Deacons advance on to next Friday's Round of 32 game with Colorado, a 3-2 winner over seventh-seeded Georgia also on Friday night. Wake Forest also bettered its NCAA Tournament record to 23-21-1 and 15-2-1 at home.
WFU leads the all-time series 3-0 and has outscored the Blue and Gold 8-0. In five NCAA Tournament games, the Eagles have yet to record a goal and have fallen by a combined 15-0 margin.
