This was yet another thrilling win for Wake Forest men’s soccer.
Just days after a come-from-behind win against Syracuse in the first round, the Demon Deacons returned to Dallas to take on the fourth-seeded, No. 12 SMU (10-2-6), just two weeks after suffering a 3-0 defeat against the Mustangs in regular season play.
This result was far better for the Demon Deacons. Once again the story for Wake Forest was being resilient after falling behind, and grinding out a result. “Super proud of the resilience this group continues to show,” Head Coach Bobby Muuss said.
After overcoming a two goal deficit, the work was not done for Wake Forest. After battling through two overtime periods, the match would be decided by penalty kicks. Wake Forest had more composure from the penalty spot, and freshman Mason Sullivan’s penalty proved to be the winner after a wayward sixth attempt from SMU.
“There have been a lot of doubters of this team, but they have battled and keep battling through all the adversity we have gone through this season,” Coach Muuss applauded. “To be down 2-0 and come back in this conference is a testament to the guys’ grit and their desire to get better and win the jersey.”
There was a similar story of a quiet first half in attack for Wake Forest, once again being held scoreless in the opening period of play. Wake Forest only managed three shots in the first half, and failed to score a first half goal for the fourth straight match.
The Demon Deacons opened the second half of play on the back foot, and conceded goals in the 60th and 67th minutes. There was nothing goalkeeper Trace Alphin could do on the first goal, as it was finished brilliantly into the bottom corner. However, the second goal was messy from the Wake Forest defense.
SMU was passing it around the Wake Forest box looking for an angle to shoot, and Alphin decided to come out of his net in an attempt to make a block. However, he was unable to get in the way of the shot, and the ball ricocheted off of a Wake Forest defender and into the goal for 2-0. SMU was cruising, and a Wake Forest comeback looked unlikely.
However, junior Cooper Flax stepped up to take a free kick in the 78th minute, and curled it beautifully into the top left corner. The diving SMU keeper couldn’t even get a fingertip to this truly stunning strike. Another big moment for Flax, who leads the team in goals with six. He was instrumental in yet another comeback win for the Demon Deacons.
The equalizer came from freshman Ryan Belal, who capitalized on a poor clearance from SMU and volleyed the ball into the net just three minutes after Flax cut the lead in half.
In penalty kicks, the Demon Deacons converted their first four attempts but missed the fifth, and SMU forced sudden death kicks with the score 4-4 on penalties. Sullivan smashed Wake Forest’s sixth attempt into the net, and SMU pulled their six attempt wide, giving the Demon Deacons the win.
This is the seventh appearance in the semi finals of the ACC tournament for Wake Forest since 2015, second only to Clemson with nine appearances.
No. 9 Virginia awaits Wake Forest in the semi finals, with the match set to kick off at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday evening in Cary, N.C.
