Stanford’s perfect season is already over.
Wake Forest’s is still alive.
The top-ranked Cardinal women’s team fell to the Demon Deacons 3-2 in the match-play final of the Jackson T. Stephens Cup on Wednesday at Shoreacres outside Chicago. The loss comes just a day after Stanford dropped their first stroke-play competition in 535 days.
Wake Forest senior Anne-Sterre den Dunnen delivered the clinching point by taking Stanford’s Kelly Xu to 21 holes. Transfers Casey Weidenfeld and Morgan Ketchum also won their matches as the Demon Deacons knocked off a Stanford squad that features four of the top six amateurs in the world.
“They showed that they can win, obviously, but everyone here contributes, and that’s what’s so amazing about this team,” said Wake head coach Kim Lewellen.
It’s been quite a start for Wake Forest. They captured last week’s Annika Intercollegiate to open their season, where Chloe Kovelesky shared medalist honors. Then on Tuesday, junior Macy Pate claimed the Stephens Cup individual title.
This isn’t the first time the Demon Deacons have gotten the better of Stanford. Last season, Wake handed the Cardinal one of its two match-play losses in the semifinals of the ACC Championship. Stanford would later drop the NCAA final to Northwestern.
Wake Forest now gets a breather before their next event, the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Intercollegiate, which doesn’t tee off until Oct 17-19.
On the men’s side, LSU dominated North Carolina 4-1 in the final. The Tigers’ Arni Sveinsson earned the clinching point over Keaton Vo while two other matches were still deadlocked in extra holes — Noah McWilliams tied with Niall Shiels-Donegan through 21 holes and Alfons Bondesson tied with Sihan Sandhu through 20.
“They’re pretty tough,” LSU head coach Jake Amos said. “The first event we didn’t have our best stuff and we kind of grinded out a nice finish. We have a lot of good players at home, too, and it’s just really competitive, and it’s shown in how we’re playing right now.”
