WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Wake Forest’s women’s soccer team scored three goals in the first half en route to a 5-0 victory over Vanderbilt in exhibition action Tuesday afternoon at Spry Stadium.
Junior forward Jill Hutchinson scored two goals to lead the Deacs.
Sophomore Amanda Barasha made six saves en route to the shutout and her second win of the preseason.
Vanderbilt outshot Wake Forest, 21-16, but the Deacons won the shots on goal category 10-7.
“I’m encouraged when I look at the stats, considering we were playing with such a young team,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ronnie Coveleskie.
Wake Forest got on the board first in the 12th minute. Barasha’s goal kick sailed over the defense where it was played by junior Allie Sadow. Sadow dribbled in and fired a shot from seven yards out to give the Deacons a 1-0 advantage.
The Demon Deacons scored their second goal of the game at the 31:42 mark. Sadow was on the giving end of the goal this time, as she played the ball up the goal line, before passing to senior Amanda Lebo, who found the back of the net from 12 yards out.
Hutchinson expanded the Deacon lead to three just before the half as she scored from 12 yards out on the right side of the box. Casey Luckhurst notched the assist on the play.
Hutchinson added her second goal of the game in the 59th minute. She used a nifty move from 12 yards out to get around the keeper and fired a shot to the empty net from six yards out for the goal. Senior Amy Smerdzinski was credited with the assist.
Freshman Sarah Shelness closed out the scoring for the Deacs in the 75th minute. Whitney Berry delivered a ball to Shelness six yards out from the net and Shelness deposited it in the back of the goal.
“I think that we have some boundaries to take care of defensively,” said Coveleskie. “We gave up five goals inside the 18-yard box to Wake Forest that were lack of defensive presence. I thought Wake Forest had some quality attacking, but I think we have some defensive issues that we need to sort out before Sunday. I thought we had some quality runs and quality looks at the frame offensively.”
Junior Megan Forester and sophomore Megan Kinsella led the Dores with three shots on goal apiece. Sophomore Molly Kinsella led the team with eight total shots.
Vanderbilt will kick off the regular season on Sunday against Belmont at 2 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.
