Wake Forest Men’s Soccer, ranked at No. 1, turned on the heat in the second half of their game versus Presbyterian College by netting four goals in a matter of 22 minutes on Tuesday night in Spry Stadium.
“I think we brought a lot more energy in the second half,” said senior defender Logan Gdula. “That made the difference. The reserves that came in also brought the energy up and played well.”
The Demon Deacons (4-0-0) finished the game with a 4-1 win after junior Bruno Lapa scored two goals and had one assist.
Lapa, who was substituted at the half, re-entered the game in the 60th minute of play. Not even a minute after he came in, the magic began with his thru-ball to sophomore Justin McMaster that ended up in the back of the net.
He was not finished there. Less than three minutes later, Lapa scored one for himself, firing a shot into the back of the net from just outside the box.
“We just kept playing our game and kept being patient,” Lapa said. “We believed in the way that we play and knew that we would create chances. We did a good job on finishing those chances and scoring the goals we needed.”
While Presbyterian answered back in the 74th minute of play, that was not enough to tarnish the Deacs’ momentum. Sophomore Omir Fernandez responded and secured the lead by finishing a cross from sophomore Machop Chol from the right side of the box. Less than seven minutes later, Lapa scored again. Wake Forest will head straight into ACC play, taking on NC State (4-0-0) at home on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
“It will be a tough game, but we are up for the challenge,” Lapa said.
The Deacs look to bring the same energy from the second half versus Presbyterian into their next game. The team will have two days of practice to prepare, recover, and reset. N.C State beat Presbyterian 2-0 on August 31.
“Leading up to Friday, we need to improve defensively as a team and limit mistakes because good teams like N.C State will make us pay for our mistakes,” Gdula said. “We are also going to need our subs to have the same impact they did today because our depth will really help us. I think we are one of the deepest teams in the country.”
