CARY, N.C. – Colleen Deegan and Caitlin McDowell finally got the chance they had hoped for yesterday.

As two of the five seniors of the Terrapin women’s soccer team, Deegan and McDowell had not been accustomed to much success in winning titles. Their spot in yesterday’s ACC Championship culminated what was only their second time qualifying for the ACC Tournament.

But as Wake Forest goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe made a sprawling save to seal the Demon Deacons’ victory in the fourth round of penalty kicks, Deegan and McDowell knew they would likely fall short of a goal they had fashioned before this season: beat every team in the ACC.

Entering this weekend’s tournament, the Demon Deacons were the only team the two had yet to cross off their list. Barring a matchup in the NCAA Tournament, yesterday’s 1-1 penalty-kick defeat will end that dream. But it will also mark the beginning of a bigger one — a national championship.

“I think it’s hard to lose in PKs, but the biggest thing coming out of this game is that it’s not over,” Deegan said. “It’s a bad way to lose, and we’re not going to forget how this feels.”

The Terps (17-2-2) could not have asked for a better start to the game. In the fifth minute, midfielder Domenica Hodak threaded a pass to midfielder Lydia Hastings along the left sideline. Hastings crossed the ball into the Wake Forest penalty box, where forward Ashley Grove settled it and put it into the top corner of the goal to beat Bledsoe and spot the Terps an early 1-0 lead.

The second-seeded Terps, who topped Boston College in overtime in Friday’s semifinal, saw their intensity soon slip, and the Demon Deacons took advantage.

In the 19th minute, Wake Forest forward Katie Stengel corralled a pass from midfielder Bianca D’Agostino just outside the Terp penalty box and aimed at a charging Yewande Balogun. Her shot kissed off the crossbar and into the net.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said coach Brian Pensky, whose Terps were denied their first-ever ACC Championship. “We’ve had a very good week down here, and we really felt like today was going to be our day.”

Neither team broke through after Stengel’s goal, and with about 20 minutes left in regulation, Balogun did her part against the fifth-seeded Demon Deacons (12-7-3). Wake Forest midfielder Amanda Howell lofted a set piece toward the Terp net, where it was flicked on goal by midfielder Jackie McSally. Balogun tipped the header off the crossbar and then knocked the ensuing rebound opportunity out of bounds to help the Terps remain deadlocked at 1-1.

“Midway through the second half, I felt like it was potentially destined for [penalty kicks],” Pensky said.

He was right. After a relatively even overtime, the two sides advanced to penalty kicks, where Terp forward Sade Ayinde and Wake Forest defender Alisha Woodson both converted their first-round opportunities.

Then Bledsoe put the Demon Deacons on her back. In the next three rounds, she turned away bids from midfielder Olivia Wagner, forward Jasmyne Spencer and Hodak en route to Most Valuable Player honors and the Demon Deacons’ first-ever conference crown.

“The downside to a game finishing on penalty kicks is that it individualizes it,” Pensky said. “This is such a team game. This is a little silly, but I’m glad that we had three kids miss it, so we don’t have a kid that stands alone right now.”

Even as the defeat ended the first leg of the Terps’ postseason in disappointing fashion, their odyssey through the ACC Tournament could ease their trip through the NCAA Tournament. The Terps have a strong shot at earning a top-four seed for the NCAA Tournament when the brackets are released this afternoon, which would give them home-field advantage until the semifinals.

The excitement of that seeding will likely claim much of the Terps’ attention today. But it couldn’t lessen the sting of defeat as they left WakeMed Soccer Park as runners-up yesterday.

“We were so close to winning a championship,” Pensky said. “This feeling of disappointment hurts.”

cwalsh@umdbk.com