Nov. 11, 2007

Wake Forest Tops Michigan, 3-2, in NCAA Second Round

ANN ARBOR, Mich. - It's official: The Wake Forest Field Hockey team is headed to the NCAA Final Four for the eighth consecutive season thanks to a 3-2 win over Michigan on the Wolverines' home turf Sunday afternoon.

The Demon Deacons (16-5) will head to College Park, Md. to face Penn State, who upset No. 2-seed Maryland 1-0 on Sunday. The semifinal match is set for Friday, November 16 at 7:30 p.m. Friday's winner will move to the finals to face the winner of the No. 1-seed North Carolina/No. 4-seed Connecticut match up. The NCAA finals will be held on Sunday, November 18 at 12 p.m.

The Wolverines were the first to strike in Sunday's Round 2 match, when Sarah Wilhite recovered the rebounding ball from a Michigan shot and sent it into the left side of the Deacon goal in the 18th minute. The Wolverines held the lead for a little over two minutes, until Wake's Chelsea Cipriani and Michelle Kasold teamed up to score back-to-back goals to put the Deacs up 2-1 at halftime.

• More from Wake Forest

Tar Heels Advance To Final Four With 1-0 Win Over James Madison

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Junior Britt van Beek's goal with less than nine minutes to play gave top-ranked North Carolina a 1-0 field hockey win over No. 7 James Madison in NCAA Tournament play Sunday afternoon, sending the Tar Heels to their first NCAA semifinals since 2000. The final four appearance will be the program's 13th.

"I couldn't be prouder of the team," UNC coach Karen Shelton said. "We've played such great defense all year and we needed to play that way against James Madison. They packed it in and gave us everything that we could handle. They kept working and I give them all the credit in the world for stressing us like they did. We had a lot of shots on goal, we had lots of opportunities but you've got to get it by the keeper and we finally found a way."

Van Beek, a forward from Den Bosch, the Netherlands, scored in the 62nd minute, dribbling the ball into the circle and sending a hard shot past JMU keeper Kelsey Cutchins. The goal was van Beek's eighth of the season. "We were just looking for a goal," she said. "We were getting so many shots and so many circle penetrations but we just couldn't get the goal. It was a good feeling to see it go in."

• More from North Carolina

Maryland Upset by Penn State, 1-0, in NCAA Second Round

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The second-seeded University of Maryland field hockey team fell to No. 9 Penn State, 1-0, in a NCAA Second Round upset Sunday afternoon at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. The Terps dropped to 18-3 on the season, while the Nittany Lions improved to 15-7. Penn State will return to College Park next weekend for the Final Four, when they take on third-seeded Wake Forest on Friday, Nov. 16, at 7:30 p.m.

Penn State senior Kiersten Wood said, "Maryland is a tough team to beat, especially at home, and I think we had nothing to lose today and put it all out on the line. We had an up-and-down season, but we worked hard to get here and I think we showed it today."

The game was scoreless until the 22-minute mark when Penn State's Shaun Banta crossed the ball in front of the goal from the right endline. Britney Long was in perfect position on the right side of the cage to put her stick on it and shoot weak side for the goal. Banta and Long also combined for Penn State's first goal in Saturday's 3-2 First Round win over Virginia.

• More from Maryland