After a defensively-controlled first half, the second half turned into an offensive battle until the end — where the Deacons finally took it, 3-2.

“I like to believe we had the better of the play, but it does not always result in the goals you have to put on the scoreboard in order to win it,” MSU head coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said.

Wake Forest took the lead 26 minutes in when a penalty shot screamed passed sophomore goalkeeper Elissa Unger.

“We had opportunities and we were close many, many times,” van de Kerkhof said.

“If one ball could have gone in a little bit earlier, it could have gone a different way.

“I think Wake (Forest) knows that they were fortunate to walk away with the ‘W’ today. But they walked away with it, so you have to give them credit for that.”

The Deacons’ first-half goal would put them in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the game, as the Spartans struggled to keep up on the scoreboard. Both Spartan goals were answered less than two minutes after being initially scored.

Although the outcome was not what the team had hoped, van de Kerkhof remains positive and said he is excited with the group of returning players for next season.

“We have been climbing in our performance every day,” he said.

“There have been some blocks in our season but I’d like to think that the returning players will have something they can relate to now and they probably want to (build) from there.”

Senior forward Becky Manning’s collegiate field hockey career came full circle at this year’s NCAA Tournament — where in 2004 the team made it to the Final Four.

In 2004, Manning’s freshman year and the last season MSU received a bid into the NCAA Tournament, the Spartans fell to Duke, 5-2, in the tournament semifinals.

“Getting back here was worth the whole seasons’ work to earn our spot at this tournament,” Manning said.

“It was a really exciting game and I’m happy with how we played even though the outcome wasn’t what we wanted.”

Compared to last season, the team has improved tremendously in almost every category.

Last season, the Spartans averaged 1.96 goals per game compared to this season’s four per game.

“If you look at our season and how it developed, we have improved in every game we’ve played, and if you compare this season to last we’ve improved as a program, and that’s the only thing, as a coaching staff, you can hope for, you build on the last season,” van de Kerkhof said.

The Spartans will begin a new season of field hockey next fall looking to better a successful 2007 campaign in 2008.