Wake Forest (5-1-1) left no doubt Sunday afternoon, cruising past University of North Carolina Asheville (1-5-1) in an impressive 5-0 win to finish non-conference play.
The Demon Deacons were aggressive and applied constant pressure early on with several touches inside the box challenging the Bulldog defense. Senior midfielder Emily Colton and junior forward Caiya Hanks each recorded shot attempts within the first three minutes of action. This attack resulted in the first corner kick of the match in the 16th minute.
Shortly after, senior defender Zara Chavoshi nearly scored a beautiful free kick that just clipped the crossbar, inches away from the goal.
Sophomore forward Sierra Sythe got the Demon Deacons on the board in the 31st minute off a stellar assist from Hanks. The pass was perfectly threaded between two defenders all while Hanks had lost balance, falling out of bounds.
Three minutes later, Colton helped force a turnover, leading to a breakaway. Senior midfielder Anna Swanson capitalized by firing a blistering left-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net. With that, Wake Forest headed into the break holding a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Colton had two goals in the 69th and 73rd minutes. The first was scored in a scrambled play when a fortunate bounce landed directly in-front of her, before a smooth finish. A few possessions later, Colton made the score 4-0 on a well-placed shot from another assist by Hanks.
In the 82nd minute, Swanson scored her second goal of the day. A powerful shot off the foot of sophomore midfielder Dempsey Brown deflected off the crossbar in front of Swanson, who slid in to score with a defender close on her.
Wake Forest dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for 57 minutes compared to UNCA’s 33. The Demon Deacons also out-shot the Bulldogs 20 to 3 (11-to-2 on goal).
The defense performed very well, recording their fourth shut-out of the season and second- consecutive. Senior goalie Payton Cahill started the first half and sophomore Valentina Amaral took her place after halftime. Amaral recorded two saves. Defenders Zara Chavoshi and Laurel Ansbrow led all Demon Deacons with 75 minutes played.
“We are getting goal contributions from many different players and earned another valuable shutout,” Wake Forest Women’s Soccer Head Coach Tony Da Luz said after the match, pleased with her team’s performance. “We are excited and ready to start ACC play.”
Before the game, Wake Forest honored seniors Olivia DeMarinis, Nadia DeMarinis, Payton Cahill, Anna Swanson and Emily Silva for their dedication to the program.
The win extended the Demon Deacons’ unbeaten run at home to 12 games, improving the home record to 14-2-5 since the start of 2022. They will open up ACC competition on Thursday, traveling to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina at 7:00 p.m.
