NCAA

Tamar Meijer Scores Two Goals As The Deacs Blank Duke, 3-0

Winston-Salem, N.C. - The Wake Forest field hockey team captured a third straight National Championship, beating Duke, 3-0 in Kentner Stadium on Sunday. Tamar Meijer scored two goals and Kelly Wood added another as the Deacons finished the 2004 season with a 20-3 record. Field hockey is the only female sport at Wake Forest to have won a national championship and the only of all the sports to win three in a row.

"That was the best second half performance we've had all season," said Deacon head coach Jennifer Averill. "Our attackers have gotten it done all season but today I have to give most of the credit to our defense, they were unbelievable all game."





In similar fashion to Friday night's semifinal game against Maryland, the Deacons and their opponent held one another shotless for the first ten minutes of the game. Wake Forest saw it's first penalty corner at the 26:57 mark and then another at the 22:20 point, but neither resulted in points for the Deacs.

With 9:13 left in the first half, Kelly Wood crossed to Tamar Meijer for the first Deacon goal of the game. Wood passed across the middle to Meijer who had snuck behind Duke keeper Christy Morgan. It was Meijer's sixth goal of the NCAA tournament and her 22nd of the season.

The Deacons held the nations best scoring offense to just two shots in the first period. Wake Forest took six shots and three penalty corners and headed into the break with the 1-0 lead.

Meijer gave the Deacons a two point cushion just over four minutes into the second half. She maneuvered around several Duke defenders and slid her seventh goal of the tournament behind Morgan. Only once before has a player scored more than seven goals in an NCAA Tournament, Marina Giacomo of ODU scored 11 in the 2000 and Kristy Gleason of Iowa tallied seven in 1990 as well. Meijer is the youngest player to score seven in a tournament.

Kelly Dostal found Wood for the third and final Deacon goal of the game at the 49:56 mark. It was on the seventh penalty corner of the game.

The Blue Devils came close to scoring with three minutes left but Claire Laubach made an incredible defensive save to hold Duke scoreless for the only time all season.

The Deacs held Duke to just eight shots and three penalty corners. Christy Morgan posted eight saves but it was not enough as the Deacs strolled to their third straight title.

Kristina Gagliardi offered two saves in her second consecutive shut out of 2004 tournament. Not since 1996, when North Carolina beat Princeton, has a team won the national crown by a margin of three.

Not since 1991 had a national champion grabbed the title by beating the same opponent in consecutive championship games. ODU beat UNC in 1990 and 1991 and beat UConn in 1982 and 1983.

"It's extremely hard to win three in a row," said Duke head coach Beth Bozman. "An awful lot of credit needs to go to Wake Forest, they did a phenomenal job and won this game."

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