Wake Forest men’s soccer (6-3-5, 2-1-2 ACC) had a successful non-conference finale, defeating University of North Carolina Wilmington (3-6-4, 2-3-0 CAA) by a score of 4-1 on Oct . 15.
Despite a slow start, this was a great win for Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons scored the most goals and won by their largest margin this season.
Head Coach Bobby Muus was pleased with the performance, referring to the match as “a great win on the road” and “a complete team win.”
However it seems the Demon Deacons continue to be plagued by slow starts, failing to score in the first half for the 12th time this season, and ultimately faced a 1-0 deficit at half time. The Seahawks converted a 10th minute corner kick, marking the first goal that Wake Forest had conceded since a match against Syracuse in September.
The goal was the only shot on target in the match for the Seahawks. The Demon Deacons responded well to the goal, generating eight shots to UNCW’s one in the remainder of the first half. Despite having chances, Wake Forest could not convert, and thus were behind at the halftime interval.
Coach Muuss was thrilled with how his team came out of the halftime break.
“After going down early, the guys kept playing and stuck together and were able to come out in the second half to find the tying goal and took over from there,” Muuss said.
Wake Forest found an equalizing goal just two minutes into the second half, when junior Basit Umar converted his chance from inside the box into the top left corner.
The floodgates opened, and the Demon Deacons would add two more in minutes 63 and 65. The go-ahead goal came from freshman Daniel Krueger, who guided his header into the back of the net. This was the first goal of Krueger’s collegiate career.
The third goal came from Dylan Borso, who finished off a clever Wake Forest attack. The ball was played diagonally into the box, and Borso was able to compose himself and slot it into the bottom corner.
Senior Nicolas Mancilla added an insurance goal in the 79th minute, after a sequence of scrappy play and a poor clearance from the Seahawks.
This was a convincing victory for Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons continue to defend well and create a lot of chances. Fortunately, the chances were taken more clinically than in games past.
This kind of clinical finishing is imperative if Wake Forest wants to make a run in the ACC or NCAA tournament.
“Now all focus is trying to get healthy and recharged for a great and highly ranked Virginia Tech team,” Muuss said, regarding his team’s next game.
Virginia Tech put together a 6-0 thumping of Winthrop last Tuesday, so the Hokies come to Winston-Salem in good form on Saturday, Oct. 19. This will be a good test for Wake Forest, a team that hopes to climb up the ACC standings in the coming weeks. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
