Wake Men's Soccer Falls to North Carolina
10/29/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 28, 2000
Chapel Hill, NC - The 18th-ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team was defeated by top-ranked North Carolina on Saturday 4-1 at Fetzer Field. The Demon Deacons slip to 10-5-1 overall and 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Tar Heels up their record to 16-2.
Wake Forest's only goal of the game came on a penalty kick by Ben Stafford, his 16th of the season and third penalty kick conversion. Unfortunately for the Deacs, the goal came after North Carolina had already built a commanding 4-0 lead.
North Carolina scored the game's first goal in the 40th minute when Michael Bucy chested in a cross from Matt Crawford on the first side. It was the first goal allowed by Wake Forest in 153 minutes. Bucy and the Tar Heels weren't done in the first half, however.
With less than ten seconds remaining in the half, Matt Thompson was whistled for a foul just outside the box. The Tar Heels hurried to reset the ball before time expired. The referee concluded that a Wake Forest player was preventing the North Carolina restart and stopped the clock with four seconds left. Grant Porter's service reached Caleb Norkus who delivered the ball to Bucy for his second of the night.
In the second half, the Demon Deacons didn't have many chances to put the ball into the net. One of the best opportunities came in the 75th minute when Kevin Wickart's free kick from 19 yards just missed the upper left corner of the net. The shot followed a foul that Wake Forest players argued was in the penalty area.
Tar Heels put the game out of reach with goals by Bucy, his third of the night, and Chris Carrieri, the nation's leading scorer. Both goals came with less than 20 minutes remaining.
Wake Forest had a number of chances in the game's opening minutes. In the first minute, Jeremiah White, who had scored in two of the last four games, fired a shot from the left that rolled wide on the right side.
The Demon Deacons have a week off before completing the regular season schedule next Saturday night at Duke. Wake Forest will host the ACC tournament at Spry Soccer Stadium on Nov. 9-12.