April 8, 2008

PALO ALTO, Calif. - The Wake Forest Field Hockey squad advanced to the final round of the Sony Field Hockey Challenge, defeating Stanford, Pacific and California before falling to defending champions Sony Ichinomiya Bravia for the tourney title.

The tournament format consisted of three games for every participating team on the Friday, with each match lasting 30 minutes. On Saturday, the Demon Deacons played four games, including a back-to-back session against Sony Bravia and Cal, followed by the title match a few hours later.

Wake Forest's roster included just 11 student-athletes, so every Demon Deacon that made the trek to Palo Alto played every minute of all seven matches.

On Friday, the Deacons opened with a 3-1 win over host school Stanford, followed by a 2-1 loss to Cal. In the afternoon session, Wake finished in a 1-1 draw with Penn State, the squad that ended the Deacons' 2007 season in the NCAA semifinals.

Wake Forest kicked off Saturday play with a 1-0 victory over Pacific and a 1-0 loss to the Sony Bravia Ladies, a professional club team out of Japan. The Deacons then posted a 1-0 win in a rematch with Cal before ending the tourney with a 3-1 loss to the Sony Bravia Ladies.

2008 was the second year for the Sony sponsored tournament, though it was Wake Forest's first invitation to the event.

"I'm very pleased with our results this weekend," Wake Forest head coach Jen Averill said. "I was proud of the way our team adapted to our current learning curve. It was a tremendous opportunity and I certainly look forward to getting and invitation for next year's event."

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