MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia’a Sh’Nia Gordon scored the tying goal with a minute left in regulation, but Wake Forest prevailed on penalty kicks in Friday’s 2-2 NCAA second-round draw.
“That overtime couldn’t come fast enough, that’s for sure,” Wake Forest coach Tony Da Luz said. “We just didn’t want to lose it with a minute left. … The teams at this point in the tournament are so even.”
The Deacons (9-8-2) advanced to the Sweet 16 by upsetting WVU 6-5 penalty kicks win after two scoreless sudden-death periods.
In the shootout, second-seeded West Virginia (15-4-4) saw two shots stopped by Wake Forest keeper Nonie Frishette. Rylee Foster managed to deflect one for the Mountaineers.
“It’s tough, and I told the team that this isn’t our defining moment, to lose in PKs,” Mountaineers coach Izzo-Brown said. “There is so much to be proud of and we played great soccer tonight. That’s something that our chins should be high on. I’ve had a great opportunity working with some incredible seniors that have taken me on an incredible journey all year long and this team has definitely been a great team to coach.
“It’s just always so hard when you finish with a loss.”
Gordon’s late goal was one of many moments where West Virginia showed its resolve, but the Mountaineers finished 0-for-13 on corner kicks. Wake Forest scored on 2-of-4.
Wake Forest struck first on a corner kick from Kate Ravenna that Abby McNamara booted in at the 30-minute mark. Ten minutes later, West Virginia’s Jordan Brewster nailed a free kick to tie it at 1-1.
The Demon Deacons scored on another corner kick in the 77th minute off the head of Bayley Feist, before Gordon’s late goal forced overtime.
“It was frustrating – they just didn’t bounce in tonight,” WVU coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “We have 13 while Wake had four and they scored two. It’s a tough break for us, but that’s something that happens. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Da Luz credited his team’s execution. “The two set pieces we’ve been working on quite a bit really helped us.”
The match was reminiscent of the Mountaineers’ season, which started with one win in the first six matches before finding their footing.
Senior captain Bianca St. Georges, who made her PK to open the shootout, wanted to reflect on the good of her career rather than Friday’s ending.
“I’m not just thinking of the game but also my whole time here,” said St. Georges, a member of the squad that played for the national championship in 2016.“Obviously we’re super disappointed, but it’s not all bad. We need to focus on the good things that happened here. We can’t just base our whole career based off those penalty kicks. We have to think of everything we’ve been through to get to this point.”
The Demon Deacons will face Penn State on Sunday at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium. The Nittany Lions beat South Carolina 1-0 earlier Friday at Dick Dlesk.
