Spry Stadium was the venue for a Monday night clash between the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-2-1) and the Radford Highlanders (0-5-0) in the final non-conference matchup for Wake Forest before conference play begins.
Coming off of a disappointing road trip to Gardner Webb just three days prior, this was a much better effort from Wake Forest. The defense stole the show, allowing just one shot on target and keeping a clean sheet — the first of the season for Wake Forest.
The match began with a bright start from Wake Forest, with senior Babacar Niang being taken down inside the box, drawing a penalty kick after just 12 minutes. Unfortunately, the ensuing shot was saved, and the match remained all square.
“Unfortunately, [after] we missed a penalty we lost a little bit of momentum,” Head Coach Bobby Muuss said. “But we brought some guys off the bench that I thought did a good job of getting that momentum back.”
The Demon Deacons continued their assault on the Radford goal, hitting the woodwork twice in the first half. The pressure finally paid off minutes before the halftime whistle, as senior Nicolas Mancilla delivered a great pass for freshman Ryan Belal to finish with a header. The first half finished with Wake Forest leading 1-0, dominating possession 72-28%, and outshooting Radford by 15-2.
The second half was more of the same for Wake Forest, where they would record another 11 shots and hit the woodwork for a third time. Wake Forest also ended the game with nine corner kicks, with Radford winning zero. The Demon Deacons dominated the ball and did not allow Radford to build any good chances to score. A great defensive showing, the 1-0 scoreline is generous to a Radford team that was truly outmatched.
The win for Wake Forest Men’s Soccer now puts them 5-0-0 against Radford in the all-time series. In addition, no team has more wins at home than Wake Forest since 2015, with this win taking the total to 104.
“Overall, it was a good team win. I don’t think we were really in any threat of conceding,” Muuss commented after the game. “We did well defending some big players on some defensive set pieces.”
Coach Muuss continued to praise his players postgame.
“We needed everybody that we had with being as banged up as we are right now and I thought that no matter who we put in the level stayed high,” Muuss said, “That’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
The Demon Deacons will attempt to carry this positive momentum into their next match, which is the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) season opener against Virginia. Both teams currently sit at 2-2-1, with the Cavaliers coming off of a loss in their first ACC matchup against Duke. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, Sept. 13.
