No. 1 WFU Mens Soccer Defeats Duke & UNC

No. 1 WFU Men’s Soccer Defeats Duke & UNC

The No.1 Wake Forest Men’s Soccer team advanced to 11-0 after an impressive pair of wins over Duke and UNCG this week.

On Saturday night, the Demon Deacons took on the Blue Devils for the Family Weekend game at an overflowing Spry Stadium packed with 4,937 fans. They came away with a 4-2 victory after four different goal scorers found the back of the net.

The 4-3-1 Blue Devils scored the first goal of the match off of a header in the 41st minute of play. The Deacs answered back less than two minutes later to go into halftime with a draw.

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Freshman Isaiah Parente scored the first goal for Wake Forest, which also happened to be the first of his collegiate career. Junior Alistair Johnston sent a lofted cross into the box in the 43rd minute that Parente was able to get a head on and redirect just inside of the left post.

The Demon Deacons came out of the locker room for the second half hungry for more. Eight minutes into the half, Sophomore Omir Fernandez added another one to the board after beating the goalkeeper one-on-one on a breakaway. This was his seventh goal of the season.

Junior Bruno Lapa found the back of the net just 10 minutes later, scoring his ninth goal of the season and earning national recognition as Player of the Week for the second time. Lapa is also tied for fourth in the country for total goals scored this season.

“We have very talented and dynamic players in the attack that can work well together and score goals,” Lapa said. “Even if we don’t get on the board early, we know how to be patient and move the ball confident that opportunities will come.”

The Blue Devils interrupted Wake Forest’s rhythm in the 75th minute when they were awarded a penalty kick. Daniele Proch stepped up to take the kick and was able to place it into the bottom left corner of the Deacs’ goal.

Freshman Machop Chol got Wake Forest on the board one last time to ensure the lead in the 80th minute. Chol received a pass from Fernandez and took a touch to settle the ball inside the box. He sent a fast-paced shot into the far post of the goal to score his second goal of the season.

On Tuesday night, the Demon Deacons remained unbeaten with a 2-0 victory over UNCG at home after maintaining possession for the majority of the game.

Freshman Kyle Holcomb scored Wake Forest’s first goal of the match in the 10th minute. Lapa took a shot right outside of the box, which ricocheted off of Holcomb and snuck into UNCG’s goal.

Fernandez guaranteed the win mid-way through the second half with a goal assisted by Lapa. Lapa found Fernandez at the top left corner of the box. Fernandez hit the ball without taking a touch to settle it, and fired it straight into the back of the net to finish the game 2-0.

The Deacs played 19 different players in this match, truly displaying the team’s depth.

“These midweek games are great for experience. The guys that maybe didn’t play as much on the weekend and are fresher came in and brought some energy,” said Head Coach Bobby Muuss. “I thought we took our foot off the pedal and we let up more shots than we wanted to, but we still got a shutout.”

Wake Forest is finally on the road this weekend as they take on Syracuse on Friday night at 7 p.m.

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