Wake Loses Heartbreaker to Wolfpack

Johnny McMurray's 21 points were not enough to lead Wake to victory.

North Carolina State scored a 98 meter try on the final play of the game to hand Wake Forest a heartbreaking 43-36 defeat in a thrilling match on Poteat Field.

The Demon Deacons continued their pattern of starting sluggishly, allowing the Wolpack to go up 14-0 in the first half. Wake failed to capitalize on numerous opportunities and a lack of discipline and poor ball handling plauged the young squad throughout the first forty minutes. Wake was also on the wrong end of some lucky bounces, as one of State's tries came when Wake captain Brendan Shea stole a Wolpack lineout, but the ball bounced directly into the State hooker's hands who went in untouched for a try.

After a fiery halftime speech from Shea, the Demon Deacons came out for the second half looking like a completely different team. Freshman center Ryan Tacon scored a try in the first minute of the half and junior wing Brandon Turner followed that up two minutes later with a long-range try of his own. Sophomore fullback Johnny McMurray converted both tries and suddenly the score was knotted at 14. Wake Forest kept its foot on the gas pedal and another converted try from Tacon a few minutes later put Wake in front 21-14. But Tacon tweaked his back on the play and on the ensuing series allowed a State player to break the line and touch down under the posts to tie the game at 21.

Ryan Tacon scored two tries for the second straight game.

The next 25 minutes were a back and forth affair, with Wake Forest's backline making numerous linebreaks and the Wolfpack forwards taking advantage of numerous Wake Forest penalties at the breakdown to quick tap and offload their way down the field. McMurray slotted a penalty goal to put Wake ahead 24-21, then followed that up with a converted try of his own to extend the lead to 31-21. State continued to press, however, and another try from the Wolfpack forwards brought them back with striking distance at 31-28. With ten minutes remaining, McMurray struck again with his second try of the day, but was unable to convert from the sideline and the score stood at 36-28.

Wake Forest was repeatedly penalized for high tackles on the driving Wolfpack forwards.

The last ten minutes of of the match were filled with excitement, as North Carolina State wore down the Demon Deacons with tremendous forward play, while Wake was continually pinged for infringements by the referee. A Wolfpack try with 5 minutes to play brought the score to 36-33 and a penalty goal a moment later tied the score at 36. With time running down, NC State looked to go ahead, but a pass that would have resulted in the winning try was ruled forward by the referee and with no time remaining on the clock, Wake Forest was awarded a scrum at their own 22 meter line. With overtime looming, Wake decided to take the chance of attacking wide. A nifty backline movement put McMurray into space and the sophomore fullback chipped over the State fullback. The ball came to rest two meters from the tryline, with both State players and Wake players in a mad rush to secure possession. The referee called a penalty on Wake, and the Wolfpack immediately quick-tapped and moved downfield. The State winger broker free, but was dragged down from behind about 20 meters out by Turner. The referee called yet another penalty on Wake, and another heads up quick-tap allowed State to go in for game-winning try. The hearbreaking loss sends Wake's record in conference play to 1-4, while NC State improves to 2-3. Wake Forest will travel to Charlottesville, VA this weekend for the final match of the 2011 ACRL season against 4-1 Virginia.

Wake Lineup vs NC State

1. Ty Pierce, So.
2. Jeff Millar, Jr.
3. Nick Conte, Jr. (Bryce Lambert, Fr. @ 65)
4. Christian Jewett, Sr.
5. Ross Hilton, Sr.
6. James Watson, Fr. (Liam McIntyre, Fr. @ 15)
7. Brendan Shea, Jr.
8. Hunter Lostan, Sr.
9. Will Hank, Jr.
10. Rob Kelly, So.
11. Brandon Turner, Jr.
12. Ben Cohen, Jr.
13. Ryan Tacon, Fr. (Steve McMillen, Sr. @ 50)
14. Drew Chadwick, Sr.
15. Johnny McMurray, So.

Tries: Tacon (2), Turner, McMurray (2)
Conversions: McMurray (4)
Penalties: McMurray