WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Despite doubling up Wake Forest in shots and generating more quality offense, the William and Mary field hockey team fell to the visiting Demon Deacons, 2-1, in a tussle of nationally ranked foes on Friday night. The No. 21-ranked Tribe put 11 of its 14 shots on cage, but could not rally after following behind the No. 22-ranked ACC foe, 2-0, midway through the second half. The College dropped to 10-5 on the year, while the Deacs improve to 6-7.

After Wake Forest took a 2-0 advantage in the 56th minute, the Tribe rallied to close to within one on freshman Pip Saunders' fifth goal of the season. Junior Taylor Hodge fed forward to Saunders along the right end line, where the Green and Gold rookie cutback and finished with hard shot past the rushing Wake Forest goalkeeper. The marker cut the gap to 2-1 at the 60:12 mark. It was Hodge's second assist of the year.

Just under a minute later, Wake Forest goalkeeper Kaitlyn Ruhf denied senior Allison Moran on the left side of the area, before the College generated back-to-back penalty corners in the 67th minute. Senior Christine Johnson's hard shot was blocked by Ruhf, before the Deacs backstop was up to the task again on senior Sarah Morehouse's shot from the left side.

The College continued its onslaught in the waning minutes, but Ruhf denied Saunders at the doorstep with 11 and four seconds remaining in the game to clinch the victory.  Saunders led W&M with four shots, including three on goal, while Ruhf finished the contest with nine saves in goal for Wake Forest.

For the game, W&M held a 14-7 advantage in shots, including an 11-4 cushion in attempts on goal. The Green and Gold generated four penalty corners to Wake Forest's two. In goal for W&M, both senior Elizabeth Frey and redshirt freshman Cate Johnson finished with a save apiece in 35 minutes each of action.

The Tribe had a number of quality chances in the opening half to crack the scoreboard, but the Wake defense was up to the task each time. Off the initial penalty corner of the game, Saunders redirected a shot at the left post into the outside of the cage in the ninth minute. Senior Leah Zamesnik beat the Demon Deacon goalkeeper with a hard short from a severe angle in the 11th minute, but Wake Forest defender Jess McFadyen was on the post to deny the scoring chance and register the defensive save.

Less than a minute later, Ruhf came up with a pair of point-blank saves on shots by Moran to keep the Tribe off the scoreboard. It was again Ruhf denying the Tribe in the 16th minute as Hodge corralled a deflection in the penalty area, but the Wake Forest goalkeeper blocked the shot toward the right post.

Wake Forest broke the scoreless tie with a goal off a penalty corner at the 18:24 mark. Kari Walkley carried the ball to the right and passed back center to a cutting Molly Murphy, who finished into the center boards.

The Demon Deacons increased their lead to 2-0 on a Jess Newack goal at the 55:08 mark. Taylor Rhea made a nice move into the right side of the area, before finding Newack on the back post. She redirected and lifted the ball over the Tribe goalkeeper to increased the Wake advantage.

W&M returns to action when it travels to Harrisonburg, Va., to face James Madison on Friday, Oct. 19. The match carries a 7 p.m. start time.