The No. 10 Wake Forest men’s soccer team (7-1-3, 2-1-1 ACC) has been steamrolling through the season and continued its winning ways this past week with a 3-1 victory against Campbell (2-3-4, 1-2-2 CAA) last Tuesday, Sept. 26 and a 1-0 victory against Boston College (2-4-3, 0-3-1 ACC) on Friday, Sept. 29.
The Demon Deacons got right to work, dominating the start of the game. Freshman Jeffrey White notched Wake Forest’s first shot of the game at the 52-second mark. The Demon Deacons took an early lead at the 11-minute mark as senior Jake Swallen, in his first start since Nov. 28, 2021, found the back of the net.
Swallen continued to help the Demon Deacons get on the board. At the 19-minute mark, he struck a corner to the back post. Junior Prince Amponsah received and hit a header back into the box for his fellow teammate, senior Garrison Tubbs, who found the back of the net through a header of his own. Through a pretty passing play on the corner, Tubbs earned his first goal of the season, along with Amponsah earning his first assist of the season, and the Demon Deacons went up 2-0.
Wake Forest continued to press for a 3-0 lead, and the Demon Deacons had a great opportunity at the 29-minute mark after sophomore Cooper Flax stepped up to take a free kick and nailed the post.
Campbell finally came up with a response to the Demon Deacon lead and capitalized on a scoring opportunity during the 47th minute — taking advantage of a miscue by the Wake Forest back line.
“We went up 2-0 in the first 20 minutes of the match, and when the game was a little bit in our control towards the end of the second half, they found a little bit of life,” said Wake Forest Head Coach Bobby Muuss. “But I give our guys a lot of credit. They had a lot of perseverance and a lot of resilience to come back and really put the game away.”
The Demon Deacons, however, quickly quelled any chance of a Campbell comeback and nearly earned back their two-goal lead after White had a clear shot barely blocked in the 71st minute. Just two minutes later, junior Julian Kennedy earned his first goal of the season to make it 3-1 Wake Forest, which ended up being the final score.
Following the win, the Demon Deacons traveled north to the Newton Soccer Complex to play Boston College (2-4-3, 0-3-1 ACC), where they earned a clean sheet through a 1-0 victory on Friday, Sept. 29.
Wake Forest got off to a hot start once again after Flax found the back of the net with a one-timed shot through a cross into the box from senior Jahlane Forbes. Senior Hosei Kijma had a golden chance inside the 18 to double the Demon Deacon lead, but it was deflected.
Wake Forest went into the half with a one-goal lead, along with an 8-2 shot advantage — including three of those eight shots being on target. Flax’s early goal allowed for a 1-0 Demon Deacon victory as the Eagles finished the game with only one shot on target saved by junior Trace Alphin.
“I’m really proud of the way the boys competed on the road again on short rest in an early kickoff and in pouring rain for 90 minutes, “ Muuss said.
The Demon Deacons will have a week off to reset and recover in order to be ready for this Friday, Oct. 6, when they will face N.C. State to finish their three-game road trip. The game will kick off between at 7 p.m.
