Women's soccer stifles No. 5 Wake Forest, secures 0-0 tie at home

For much of Saturday night's game against Wake Forest, defender Skyy Anderson was a shadow at Ludwig Field.

Facing the No. 5 team in the nation, Anderson, along with fellow defender Remi Kriz, had the unenviable task of marking forward Katie Stengel, the leading scorer in the ACC and one of the top players in the nation.

But after 110 minutes of play, Stengel's statline was a blank slate, and so was the scoreboard overhead. In a 0-0 tie characterized by unbending backlines, the Terps' shutout of Stengel for only the fourth time in 14 Wake Forest games this year proved crucial.

"It's physical," Anderson said. "I feel like it's a wrestling match along with a track race. Mentally, you've got to stay focused."

And while the No. 17 Terps were able to shut down the Demon Deacons' (11-1-2, 4-0-2 ACC) offense, they couldn't get anything going to build off their defensive performance. Wake Forest goalie Aubrey Bledsoe tied a school record with her ninth shutout of the year, holding the Terps (8-2-4, 2-2-2) scoreless for the second time in their past three games.

"It's pretty frustrating," forward Jasmyne Spencer said. "I'd say that's the worst part about being a forward, just getting your opportunities and just missing or hitting posts or the keeper makes a good save. It comes with the territory."

Midfielder Becky Kaplan nearly helped force an own goal late in the second half after her run into the box forced a deflection off a Wake Forest defender, but Bledsoe quickly fell on the ball before it crossed into the goal.

Not much changed for Bledsoe, or even Wake Forest's defense, through the game. Whenever the Terps wanted to attack, all four of the Demon Deacons' defenders were back waiting for them. Whenever Spencer dribbled the ball into Wake Forest's end, she had to hold up and wait for her teammates to arrive before any offense could.

"We definitely, the last couple days coming into the game, scouted them and we were pretty prepared," Spencer said. "Our goal was to try to get someone isolated in the wide areas or draw them in and then play it out into the wide areas. I think we had a lot of success going at them today."

It didn't lead to goals in the Terps' third scoreless tie and third-straight overtime game this season at Ludwig Field, but coach Brian Pensky took solace in being able to take a team like Wake Forest down to the wire, which the Terps have routinely done against top competition before this year.

"That's disappointing, especially going back to maybe one or two of those where we should have had a goal or two," Pensky said. "We still remain the only team to have a blemish on Stanford's record. That's a good team (Wake Forest) right there. We have a lot to feel good about tonight."

Pensky felt the best about his team's ability to shut down Stengel, who left in the 103rd minute with a knee injury and did not return. The sophomore finished with four shots, but the duo of Anderson and Kriz was always there with her Saturday, step for step.

"For as strong and powerful as Katie is, she has very soft feet and her change of pace is really good," Pensky said. "It's really deceptive. She baits kids, and so it's easy to get sucked into that and think, ‘I can win this,' and then boom, she accelerates and separates. The cover piece was big and then just not diving in. I think the two of them were outstanding."

Goalkeeper Yewande Balogun also pitched in with seven saves to help the Terps, who wore pink jerseys to raise awareness for breast cancer.

Looking ahead, it doesn't get any easier for the team. After a grueling trip to Florida to face No. 13 Florida State and Miami, the Terps finish their regular season against No. 4 Duke and No. 11 North Carolina.

"I think as much as we're confident, we're hungry, and you can't put a price on hunger," Pensky said. "Our team is determined right now. We're disappointed that we're left with being 2-2-2 in the league and 8-2-4 overall, but I think maybe some of that is sparking a real hunger, and I'm excited to see that hunger in our kids' eyes."

dgallen@umdbk.com