Huskers Fall in Overtime to No. 18 Wake Forest

Blacksburg, Va. - After winning its first overtime game of the season on Friday with 4-3 double-overtime victory over No. 25 Virginia Tech, the Nebraska soccer team dropped its first overtime game of the season and saw its three-game winning streak come to an end with a 2-1 loss to No. 18 Wake Forest at the Hilton Garden Hokie Invitational.

"Our team played well and competed intensely versus an excellent team," Head Coach John Walker said. "The result is disappointing but the performance and effort were strong. We are a much better and much tougher team now than we were a week ago."

Morgan Marlborough set a career high with at least one goal in five straight games following her ninth goal of the season, but it was not enough as Rachel Nuzzolese's goal at 98:18 in the first overtime period won the game for the Demon Deacons in the first ever matchup between the two programs.

Both goalies posted shutouts in the first half, as NU's Emma Stevens notched four saves, while Wake Forest goalie Aubrey Bledsoe had two saves of her own. Both offenses had opportunities to score in the first stanza, as Wake Forest got off nine shots and the Huskers produced seven attempts.

The Demon Deacons broke through at 61:58 following a corner kick from Kim Marshall. Wake's Riley Ridgik got off a header on the corner kick that was initially saved by Stevens, but Stevens was unable to grab the ball and Alisha Woodson put in the rebound to score the game's first goal.

Nebraska did not stay down long though. Marlborough came calling less than five minutes later at 64:11 to put in the equalizer. The Huskers' goal also came off a rebound, as senior Molly Thomas put up a shot in the box that Bledsoe couldn't control, resulting in Marlborough's second goal of the weekend.

Both teams played solid defense in overtime with neither team getting off a shot in the first eight minutes. Katie Stengel finally broke through and was able to set up Nuzzolese for the game winner.

The Huskers will now head back to Lincoln to prepare for their first Big Ten Conference game, which is slated for Sunday, Sept. 18, against Northwestern. Kickoff is set for Noon at the Nebraska Soccer Field and the game will be streamed live on BTN.com. The game will also be shown on the Big Ten Network on tape delay at 3 p.m. (CT) on Sunday.

All-Tournament Team

 

Virginia Tech Hokies
Ashley Manning
Kelly Conheeney
Brittany Popko
Anne Lumpkin

Loyola Greyhounds
Gianna Mangione
Joie McLaughlin
Didi Haracic

Wake Forest Deacons
Rachel Nuzzolese
Katie Stengel
Jordan Feger

Nebraska Cornhuskers
Morgan Marlborough
Jordan Jackson
Stacy Bartels

 

Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONE