Wake Forest confounded the Stanford women’s soccer team once again on Friday. This time it cost the Cardinal a return to the NCAA championship game.
Stanford’s bid for a seventh trip to the title game — and second in a row — was thwarted in a 1-0 loss to the Demon Deacons, the lone goal coming in the 72nd minute of the College Cup semifinals at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.
The Cardinal was gunning for a shot at its fourth national title, and first as a member of the Athletic Coast Conference. Of the four semifinalists — all members of the ACC — Stanford was the lone school from outside the state of North Carolina. (Duke and North Carolina play later Friday in the other match).
The Cardinal also was the only team back from last year’s College Cup, the college soccer version of the Final Four, where its season — and Pac-12 affiliation — ended in a 5-1 loss to Florida State.
Stanford won national titles in 2011, ’17 and ’19, and was runner-up in 2009-10 and last season. More than a dozen players returned from that squad for a somewhat surprising playoff run. Stanford (16-5-2) finished eighth in the ACC standings during the regular season and didn’t qualify for the conference tournament. Stanford had taken to calling the run their “revenge tour.”
But the tour ended Friday as Wake Forest continued an unprecedented run of success against Stanford. The Cardinal is winless in five matches all-time against the Demon Deacons, the only opponent of at least three matches to record an undefeated record against Stanford.
Wake Forest (16-3-4) also defeated Stanford during the regular season, handing the then-top ranked Cardinal a 1-0 loss in their ACC debut about 100 miles west on I-40 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Sept. 19.
Tough defense on both sides created limited scoring opportunities. Stanford nearly went into halftime with the lead, but Andrea Kitahata’s near-goal attempt was stopped by Wake Forest goalie Valentina Amaral. Amaral, who also was in goal for the regular-season shutout, finished with four saves as the Demon Deacons clinched a spot in the title game for the first time since 2011.
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Kitahata had scored in three of Stanford’s previous five matches, including twice during their 4-0 playoff run into the semifinals.
The breakthrough came in the 72nd minute when Emily Morris floated a shot just beyond the reach of Stanford goalie Haley Craig. Craig, who made a pair of saves in a penalty kick shootout in Stanford’s win over No. 5 Arkansas in the third round and had two playoff shutouts, including over Notre Dame in the Elite Eight, had three saves against Wake Forest.
Wake Forest was picked to finish ninth in the ACC preseason poll after missing last year’s NCAA tournament with a record of 10-3-5 and a sixth-place ACC finish but now advances to face the winner of No. 1 Duke and No. 2 North Carolina in Sunday’s championship match. The Demon Deacons are looking to claim the program’s first national title.
