CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Senior Jess McFadyen scored with 5:09 left in the second half as Wake Forest defeated Old Dominion by a score of 3-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
McFadyen broke a 2-2 tie between the Monarchs and the Demon Deacons after several chances from each squad.
Wake Forest (12-8) moves on to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament and will play North Carolina on at 2 p.m. Sunday on the campus of North Carolina at Henry Field. Old Dominion finishes the season with a 13-8 overall record.
Krysta Wangerin, Christine Conroe and McFadyen had the three goals for Wake Forest. Valerie Dahmen made three saves in the game while Conroe had a defensive save in the game.
Old Dominion struck first in the game as Caitlin Walsh scored off a rebound in the 14th minute of the first half. In the 30th minute of the half Wake Forest, down a player after a yellow card, countered quickly on an ODU possession. Taylor Rhea and Wangerin registered two quick shots with 1:57 left in the half before Murphy found Wangerin wide open right in front of the cage tying the game up at 1-1.
As time was winding down in the frame, Rhea charged ahead and drew a penalty corner as time expired. On the first penalty corner, McFadyen tallied a shot though ODU was called for an infraction, leading to another penalty corner.
After McFadyen's shot was saved on the second penalty corner, Conroe collected the loose ball and scored on the rebound giving Wake Forest a 2-1 lead heading to halftime.
The Demon Deacons maintained the one-goal advantage until Old Dominion tied the game up with 25:32 left in the second half as Christy Longacre beat Valerie Dahmen for the equalizer.
After close calls from both teams with the score tied, the drama set in as Sarah Breen of ODU was issued a yellow card leading to an advantage for Wake Forest with 8:26 left in the game. McFadyen put Wake Forest up with 5:09 left in the game as she launched a shot from just inside the circle off a pass from Jess Newak for her fourth tally of the season. The shot clipped just under the crossbar for the go-ahead score.
As time began to expire, Old Dominion was awarded a penalty corner with no time on the clock but the final shot was blocked by the Deacs, giving Wake Forest the 3-2 victory.
The Demon Deacons outshot the Monarchs 13-2 in the game while each team had four penalty corners each.
Megan Hept made six saves for the Monarchs.
Wake Forest has less than a day to prepare for the Tar Heels who have defeated the Demon Deacons twice this season. North Carolina took the first meeting 4-2 on Oct. 12 in Winston-Salem, N.C. and scored late in the game last week as the Tar Heels beat the Deacs 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
The Deacs and Tar Heels have met just once in the NCAA tournament as North Carolina defeated Wake Forest 4-1 in 2009 in the second round.
