The effort was valiant, but in the end, the championship drive for the Penn State field hockey team fell short.

Yesterday, the No. 6 Nittany Lions lost to No. 2 Wake Forest, 2-0, in the championship game of the NCAA Field Hockey Championship Tournament at the University of Louisville.

Wake Forest just overwhelmed Penn State on both offense and defense.

All of the Demon Deacons' goals came in the first half of play. Kelly Doton put Wake Forest on the board just more than 12 minutes into regulation, off an assist from Maeke Boreel. Three minutes later, Heather Aughinbaugh put a shot past goalie Annie Zinkavich to put away the Lions for good.

Zinkavich had nine saves on the day, seven of which came in the second half. Both Doton and Aughinbaugh were named to the all-tournament team.

"I thought that Wake Forest was very good," Penn State field hockey coach Char Morett said in a statement released by the tournament. "They showed a lot of poise around the ball. They always had options around the ball."

Wake Forest outshot Penn State on the day 12-4, with the all of the Lions' shots accredited to Heather Conroy. Conroy, along with Jill Martz and Timarie Legel, made the all-tournament team for Penn State.

"The University of Louisville has been great, the whole experience of playing here," back Kate Bender said. "We've never been able to [get to] a Final Four before, and it's just been awesome."

No. 2 Wake Forest moved onto the championship game after blanking Michigan State 3-0 in the semi-final round of the tournament.

"I'm so incredibly thrilled for the kids, for the institution and for my coaching staff," Wake Forest field hockey coach Jennifer Averill said in a press release. "You dream about these moments. I really felt coming into the tournament that we had a championship team."

After finishing third in the Big Ten and getting knocked out of the conference tournament in the second round, the Lions managed to make a legitimate run for the national title, beating Princeton and Old Dominion to get there.

"The high of coming off of a win like when we beat Old Dominion on Friday, but you have your sight set on something from the beginning of the year, when you fall that short of it, it's kind of hard to swallow," Bender said.

On Friday, Penn State beat No. 1 Old Dominion 3-2 to win the right to play Wake Forest in the finals. The game was the second time this season the Lions beat the No. 1 ranked Lady Monarchs.