Ohio State to Battle Wake Forest in NCAA First Round
11/5/2018 7:00:26 PM | Women's Soccer
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s soccer team has been selected to participate in the 2018 NCAA Tournament and will travel to Wake Forest for a first-round matchup. The Buckeyes and Demon Deacons will kick at 7 p.m. Friday at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“I’m really excited for our players, first and foremost,” Lori Walker-Hock, Ohio State head coach, said. “Being in the at-large pool and on the bubble certainly created for a stressful time. I felt like we had a good body of work throughout this year and I’m very happy for our conference to have six teams representing in the NCAA Tournament.”
Ohio State is 9-5-4 on the year and earned the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Tournament after going 6-2-3 in conference play. The Buckeyes, who will be playing in their 13th NCAA Tournament and ninth in the last 10 seasons, hold a 12-11-2 record in NCAA Tournament contests, all under the direction of 22nd-year head coach Lori Walker-Hock.
Kayla Fischer and Izzy Rodriguez lead the Buckeyes with four goals while Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year Devon Kerr has notched a 0.77 goals-against average with eight clean sheets. Rodriguez joined Kerr as first team All-Big Ten selections while Sarah Roberts garnered second team All-Big Ten honors. Talani Barnett, Fischer and Emaly Vatne each earned Big Ten All-Freshman team laurels.
“We definitely feel excitement, joy and relief all at once right now,” Kylie Knight, Ohio State senior co-captain, said. “We were a little nervous this year but we’re excited for the matchup. Wake Forest has a good team and it should create for an exciting game.”
Wake Forest is 8-8-1 on the year, 4-6-0 in ACC play. The Demon Deacons are led offensively by with six goals to go along with four assists while Nonie Frishette has tallied a 1.32 goals-against average with five clean sheets. Wake Forest owns ranked wins over then-No. 5 Penn State and N.C. State.
The Big Ten will have six teams in the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State will be joined by Minnesota, Northwestern, Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes also played 2018 NCAA Tournament participants Duke and North Carolina.
