Wake Forest men’s soccer looked to bounce back from a frustrating 6-3 road loss at the University of Virginia last week as the Liberty Flames came to town Monday night for a non-conference match-up.
Donning green jerseys for their Mental Health Awareness Match, Wake Forest came out with a relentless attack, as just a minute and a half in, freshman forward Chandler Young drew a yellow card from Liberty goalkeeper Tyler Beck. Demon Deacon senior and captain Cooper Flax took the penalty kick and rocketed one to the left of a diving Beck to open the scoring.
The Wake Forest offense got another chance a few moments later in the 15th minute when Young was once again taken down in the box by Beck, triggering another penalty. Flax made it déjà vu all over again as it was the same spot, and had the same result to make it 2-0 Demon Deacons. The pressure didn’t stop. Eight minutes later, defender Amoni Thomas was able to find fellow sophomore Harvey Sarajian through multiple defenders, and Sarajian’s shot found twine to make it a commanding 3-0 lead that would carry into the half.
It didn’t take long for more action to arise in the second half. In the 49th minute, Liberty’s Beck played a ball well out of the box that would deflect off of his own player, right back in the direction of the Flames’ net. Wake Forest’s Young won the sprint to the ball and poked it home with a slide to make it 4-0. More Demon Deacon pressure produced a corner kick in the 59th minute, and the initial deflection made its way to junior midfielder Tate Lorentz, who immediately fired and scored his fifth of the season and Wake Forest’s fifth of the game.
Moments later, Lorentz would be taken down on Liberty’s fourth yellow card of the game, and Flax stepped up for the free kick. Flax completed the hat trick, putting one left of the diving goalkeeper to make it 6-0. Less than a minute later, junior forward Ethan Subachan picked the pocket of a Flames defender and fired home yet another goal to solidify the onslaught. Every healthy Demon Deacon had play time this game, as even starting goalkeeper Jonah Mednard, who made some very impressive saves, was able to sit for the final 22 minutes, allowing redshirt freshman goalkeeper Owen Barnett to get some action in the final stretch.
“Coming off the tough road result against Virginia, I think it was important for us to come out on the front foot, the way we ended the second half at Virginia, with a lot of energy,” Wake Forest Head Coach Bobby Muuss said post-game. Muuss emphasized the importance of a strong start out of the break after a commanding first half.
“The game is never over. Stranger things have happened in college soccer, but I knew we had some fresh guys that could come in and bring some energy, and we did that at the start of the second half.” Muuss called it “a good step in the right direction”.
