WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Appalachian State University field hockey dropped to  No. 18 Wake Forest 9-1 on Friday night under the lights at Kentner Stadium. Rebecca McLean scored Appalachian's only goal of the evening, her third of the season.

Wake Forest (9-7, 0-6 ACC) came out of the gates fast with two quick goals in under three minutes to take the early 2-0 lead.

After falling quickly in the first several minutes, App State's defensive front began to pick it up a notch with many blocked shots and broke up multiple offensive plays created by the Deacs. The App's (1-14) started to hold off the Demon Deacons offensively until Nicola Pluta found an opening for Madi Julius to score Wake's third goal in the 17th minute.

The match started to go into a standstill until McLean nestled the ball into the cage off of Appalachian's second corner of the match to shrink the Deacs' lead to 3-1. Only down by two, the Mountaineers were eager to score another goal, but Wake Forest beat them to the punch and scored two back-to-back goals to end the half 5-1.

The Demon Deacons supplied more pressure at net with ten shots and eight on goal while Appalachian's only offensive opportunities came from their two penalty corners in the first period.

The second half opened with a Demon Deacon goal in the 38th minute from Nicola Pluta who backhanded the ball into the net. Then in the 45th minute,  Sarah Thornhill of Wake slammed an unassisted shot into the net to widen the Demon Deacons' lead to 7-1.

Despite being down by several goals, the Mountaineers continued to fight and attempted to strike up more offensive plays but Wake Forest scored two more goals and ran away with the match 9-1.

The offensive stats were dominated by the Deacs in the second half with 13 shots and 12 shots on goal while the Mountaineers only supplied one shot with none on goal.

Offense

Wake Forest controlled most of the match on App's side of the pitch totaling 23 shots, 20 shots on goal and earning 11 penalty corners. Appalachian garnered three shots with two towards the cage and grabbed two penalty corners.

Julia Wenz, Jordan Van Cleave and McLean all collected one shot apiece with McLean and Van Cleave whaling their's to goal.

At Net

Goalkeeper Rachel Gaines provided sound protection at net accumulating 11 saves in 70:00 minutes.

Up Next

The Black and Gold will conclude their 2016 campaign on Sunday, Oct. 30 in Chapel Hill against No.5 North Carolina. The first touch starts at 1 p.m.