INDIANAPOLIS – The Wake Forest field hockey team was selected to the 2022 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament, as announced on NCAA.com on Sunday night.
This is the Demon Deacons' 18th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since the 2018 season when Wake Forest made a Final Four run. Overall, the Demon Deacons have won 31 matches at the national tournament.
— Wake Forest Hockey (@WakeHockey) November 7, 2022Time to dance 🕺
For the 18th time in program history, we're heading to the @NCAA Tournament! pic.twitter.com/TUWWSpjHkF
The Demon Deacons won three-straight NCAA titles in 2002-04, while finishing as the runner-up in 2006 and 2008. The 2002 title marked the first national championship by a women's athletic program at Wake Forest and this marks the 20th anniversary of the historic team on Nov. 24.
"I'm grateful the committee acknowledged the strength and ability of this team," head coach Jennifer Averill said. "I'm extremely proud of our squad and our continued growth. We are thrilled to be back competing in the tournament."
𝘛𝘐𝘊𝘒𝘌𝘛 𝘗𝘜𝘕𝘊𝘏𝘌𝘋 👊#GoDeacs 🎩🏑 pic.twitter.com/PqFbCzTMp9
— Wake Forest Hockey (@WakeHockey) November 7, 2022
Wake Forest (15-5) will travel to Chapel Hill to take on Saint Joseph's (15-4) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Nov. 11 at 2:30 p.m.
In the other first round game, host North Carolina (17-0), the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, will face the winner of the play-in game between Lehigh (13-7) and Delaware (9-11) on Friday at 12 p.m. The winners of the first round matches will meet Sunday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.
Sunday's quarterfinal winner will advance to the NCAA semifinals which will take place Nov. 18 at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. inside Connecticut's Sherman Complex. The national championship game will be held on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 1:30 p.m.
The Demon Deacons' victory in the ACC Championship quarterfinals against Duke helped this year's squad become the first Wake Forest team since 2008 to win at least 15 matches in a season.
Wake Forest has won 15 of its last 18 matches, outscoring opponents 50-17 during that span.
The Deacs defeated three top-10 teams during the regular season, with the trio of victories coming against ACC opponents including a win at Virginia who is No. 5 in the latest RPI.
In addition to its five conference victories, Wake Forest posted a 9-3 record against non-league opponents, outscoring them 34-16.
2022 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Tournament
Opening Round
Wednesday, Nov. 9
First Round
Friday, Nov. 11
Second Round
Sunday, November 13
Championship Rounds
Friday, Nov. 18- Sunday, Nov. 20
Sherman Complex (Storrs, CT)
The full 2022 NCAA Division I Field Hockey bracket can be found here.
Demon Deacons in the NCAA Tournament
NCAA Championships (3)
2002, 2003, 2004
NCAA Semifinal Appearances (10)
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2018
NCAA Tournament Appearances (18)
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022
Season Highlights
Head coach Jennifer Averill earned her eighth career ACC Coach of the Year award in 2022. Averill has also taken home the prestigious honor in 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2014.
Sky Caron and Meike Lanckohr headlined Wake Forest's All-ACC honorees, landing on the first team. Grace Delmotte, Nat Friedman and Ellie Todd rounded out award winners as the trio received second team honors.
This marks Lanckohr and Friedman's third-straight All-ACC honor, while Caron (2019 at Boston College) and Delmotte (2020-212) have previously received recognition from the league. Todd is one of seven freshmen in the conference to earn the first All-ACC honor of their careers.
Wake Forest and North Carolina each placed five honorees on the all-league teams, the most in the ACC.
The Wake Forest field hockey team was ranked No. 8 in the 10th 2022 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll. This marked Wake Forest's highest ranking of the season. Additionally, this marked the 46th-straight NFCHA poll the Deacs have been featured in. Since the poll's inception in 2018, Wake Forest has appeared in 49 of the 50 weekly polls.
Averill secured her 400th win as the head coach of Wake Forest Field Hockey on Friday, Sept. 16 with the Deacs' 4-3 victory against Richmond. In 31 seasons at the helm of the program, Averill holds an overall record of 411-223-3 and an overall mark of 431-255-6 in 32 years of coaching.
The Demon Deacons' victory in the quarterfinals against Duke helped this year's squad become the first Wake Forest team since 2008 to win at least 15 matches in a season.
The Deacs ended the regular season winners of 14 of its last 16 matches. During that span, Wake Forest outscored opponents 47-14.
The Deacs defeated three top-10 teams during the regular season, with the trio of victories coming against ACC opponents.
In addition to its five conference victories, Wake Forest posted a 9-3 record against non-league opponents, outscoring them 34-16.
Wake Forest posted win streaks of five (Sept. 2-Sept. 18) and six (Sept. 25-Oct. 14) this season.
The Deacs gave up less than two goals in its last 12 matches of the regular season. Overall, the Deacs have held opponents to two goals or less in 17 matches this season.
The Demon Deacons finished the regular season leading the league in penalty corners (127), goals off corners (17) and assists (52), while ranking second in shots and third in scoring.
Wake Forest has outscored opponents 18-2 in the first quarter this season and found the back of the net first in all 15 of its victories.
Meike Lanckohr and Grace Delmotte are among the best passers in the ACC. Lanckohr led the conference in assists (12) after posting her third multi-assist of the season against Syracuse. Delmotte is tied for second (10).
Freshman goalkeeper Ellie Todd has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice this season. Todd earned a trio of wins during Wake Forest's perfect week against Davidson, No. 7 Louisville and VCU, notching seven stops while allowing just two goals in 180 minutes of action in goal. The Boston, Mass. native was instrumental in Wake Forest's ACC victory over the nationally-ranked Cardinals as Todd posted her third shutout of the season, making five defensive stops in the Demon Deacons' first top-10 win since 2018. Todd earned the first conference accolade of her career after pitching her third shutout of the season in Wake Forest's ACC home-opening victory against No. 22 Duke on Sunday, Oct. 2. The Boston, Mass. native tallied five saves in 60 minutes of game action in goal to earn the seventh win of her freshman season. Todd registered a career performance in the cage in Wake Forest's ACC opener at North Carolina. The Boston, Mass. native became the first Demon Deacon to tally double-digit saves in a match since 2015, registering a career-high 12 stops. Todd currently is tied for the most saves in a single match this season across the ACC and ranks second in overall saves this season.
In addition to her conference-leading assist mark, Lanckohr ranks fourth in points and sixth in goals. The All-American earned the second conference player of the week nod of her career after leading the Deacs in a perfect 2-0 weekend on the Wake Forest's West Coast road trip with a team-high 12 points, netting a team-high five goals and two assists. Lanckohr received All-America and All-ACC first team accolades for the second-straight season in 2021 after posting a team-best and career-high 20 points with a career-high nine goals and two assists in 2021. Overall, the Voerendaal, Netherlands native finished tied for second in the ACC in goals, while ranking third in points per game (1.54).
A number of Deacs have been able to net goals this season as 11 players have scored multiple goals this season: Meike Lanckohr (10), Hannah Maxwell (8), Sky Caron (8), Ashley Hart (6), Grace Delmotte (5), Anna Gwiazdziski (5), Maggie Dickman (2), Abby Carpenter (2), Brooke McCusker (2), Immie Gillgrass (3) and Rachel Thetford (2).
Lee Ann Gordon competed with the U-21 Field Hockey US Women's National Team squad in the Uniphar 5-Nations Tournament in Dublin, Ireland as Team USA took home a bronze medal. On July 26, Nat Friedman was named to the 2022-23 U.S. Women's National Team, heading to Charlotte for training camp on Sunday, July 31-Thursday, Aug. 4.
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