Wake Forest Men's Soccer Postseason Media Guide
11/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 7, 2000
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Wake Forest is 10-6-1 overall and finished in fifth place in the ACC with a 2-4 record. The Deacons closed the book on the regular season with a 2-1 loss in Durham at the hands of Duke on Nov. 4.
The Rankings:
The Demon Deacons are not ranked in any of the major polls. Wake Forest is receiving votes in the Soccer America and NSCAA media poll. The Deacs have been ranked as high as fifth in the NSCAA Coaches Poll, Soccer America and Soccer Times on September 11. Wake peaked at No. 7 in the media poll that same week.
The Coach:
Jay Vidovich is in his seventh season at Wake Forest with a record of 77-49-10. Vidovich needs one victory to set a new record for wins by a Wake Forest men's soccer coach. He would pass his friend and mentor, Walt Chyzowych, to claim the title. Vidovich's winning percentage (.603) is the best in school history.
The Players:
The Wake Forest offensive attack is led by first-team All-ACC forward Ben Stafford (16 goals, 4 assists). The senior is the ACC's second leading goal scorers and is among the nation's leaders in that category. Jaron Barbee (4g, 4a) is the team's second leading scorer. Sophomore midfielder Aaron Thomas (3g, 1a) is the team captain.
Wake Forest Gets Another Shot At Clemson In First Round of ACC Tournament
The Demon Deacons, the tournament's #5 seed, faces Clemson, the #4 seed, in the nightcap of Thursday's ACC quarterfinals at Spry Stadium on the Wake Forest campus.
The Deacs and Tigers on Oct. 21 at Spry with Clemson claiming a 2-1 win.
Thursday's winner squares off with #1 seed North Carolina at 8:00 on Friday night. The Tar Heels have a first-round bye.
Vidovich Can Set School Record With Win
Although he's tired of hearing it, head coach Jay Vidovich will again try to become Wake Forest's winningest coach in history with a win.
Vidovich would pass Walt Chyzowych, his friend and mentor, as the new leader in the record books.
Vidovich is 77-49-10 through seven-plus seasons as the Wake head coach. He was a WFU assistant from ?86-'94.
Stafford Up For National Awards
Ben Stafford has earned the respect in the ACC, now he's hoping the rest of the country has taken notice of his scoring prowess.
Stafford, the nation's seventh leading scorer, is a strong candidate for national honors.
The senior forward leads Wake with 37 points and 16 goals. Stafford has scored goals in 11 of Wake's 17 games this season.
He finished the regular season second in the conference in goals and third in scoring.
Stafford has been named to Soccer America's Team of the Week three times this year.
Earlier this season, Stafford had a streak of five straight games with a goal and seven straight with a point and became the second leading scorer in school history.
The Signal Mountain, Tenn., native has had some incredible individual performances with five multi-goal games, including two tallies at Connecticut.
Wake Forest In the ACC Tournament
- Since the ACC implemented the postseason tournament in 1987, Wake Forest has earned one conference title, in 1989, and reached the finals twice, 1989 and 1991.
- The Demon Deacons have an all-time record of 7-10-4 in the tournament.
- Wake has advanced out of the quarterfinals in three of the last four years, including last year's 2-1 win over NC State.
- The Deacs have been the five-seed only once, back in 1992. Wake officially tied North Carolina 0-0 but the Heels advanced on penalty kicks.
- In its 21 ACC Tournament games, Wake Forest has only played Clemson once. That meeting was back in 1989, the year the Deacons claimed the title.
- Complete history on page 16.
Tossed Into the Fire
Plenty of new faces dotted the Wake roster at the beginning of the season and they've been key. Entering the postseason, nine newcomers have accounted for 41% of the starting assignments.
Of the 25 players who have seen time this year, 15 had never worn the Wake Forest jersey before September 1.
The newcomers have played critical roles, especially midfielder Brian Carroll (17), transfer goalkeeper Rob Vartughian (16 starts), freshmen defenders Kelvin Jones (12) and Wiggy Saunders (11), forward Jeremiah White (10) and goalkeeper Will Hesmer (1).
Six newcomers are expected to start or at least play against Clemson. Should Wake Forest advance, several more freshmen would be relied upon.
Streaks and Trends
- The Demon Deacons have won eight of their last 12 games.
- Wake is 3-2 following a loss this year.
- The Deacs are 8-1 when scoring the game's first goal.
- Wake is 7-1 when leading at halftime.
- The Deacons are 9-0 when leading after 75 minutes.
- Wake is 8-2-1 when outshooting its opponent.
Combinations A thru P
Jay Vidovich is running out of options. He has to be. The Demon Deacon head coach has used 16 different starting lineups in 17 games and hasn't used the same starting lineup twice since the UNC Greensboro and Liberty games.
Nineteen different players have started for the Deacs. Four players have drawn every starting assignment this season including defender Brock Hilpert, midfielders Aaron Thomas and Brian Carroll and forward Ben Stafford.
Last Time Out
Following a 2-1 loss at Duke on Nov. 4, the Deacs have dropped three of the last four contests for the first time since the end of the 1998 season.
That fact is not indicative of the way Wake played against the Blue Devils. Wake dominated the first 45 minutes, with seven corner kicks to Duke's one.
The Deacons held a 1-0 lead at half before squandering the lead late. After the game, Vidovich said, ?It was a tremendous effort. They played intelligently and defended with heart. Our chances were there.We just didn't finish.?
The Secret Weapon
Wake Forest has used nine newcomers in the starting lineup at one time or another this season but the ninth probably surprised some observers.
Freshman goalkeeper Will Hesmer made his Deacon debut against Duke and impressed the coaching staff with his presence in goal.
The Wilson, NC, native was a tremendous three-sport athlete in high school and was recruited to play football by several schools in addition to being recruiting by several ACC soccer programs.
The coaching staff likes his footwork, leadership skills and ability to read the game.
Hesmer and Rob Vartughian, who played every minute in the team's first 16 games, split time in the preseason and neither yielded a goal.
Barbee Cracks Record Charts
Senior forward Jaron Barbee has crept into the record books and is eighth in all-time scoring with 50 points.
The Greensboro native has four goals to go with four helpers this season. Most recently, Barbee scored the game's first goal against the Blue Devils. He is the team's second leading scorer despite starting seven contests for the Demon Deacons.
Cardiac Deacs
Wake Forest has shown the propensity to stage comebacks this season. The Deacs have trailed in the first half or at halftime in seven games. They have come back to tie the game five of those times, win the game twice (UConn, Md.) and end the game with a tie once (USC).
Wake Forest has the most overtime experience of any ACC this season and the Deacs have made the most of the extra frames, going 3-1-1 in OT contests.
Aye, Aye Captain
Sophomore midfielder Aaron Thomas wears the captain's sleeve for Wake Forest. The Downingtown, Pa., native was named to College Soccer Online's preseason All-American team in August. Thomas has proved to be a dangerous threat in the penalty area. He scored a game-tying goal against St. John's on a diving header during a scramble in the box and found the back of the net against Clemson.
The Friendly Confines
For the third straight season, the league's head coaches voted to have the conference tournament at Wake Forest's W. Dennie Spry Soccer Stadium.
The tournament has done quite well at Wake Forest drawing over-capacity crowds of at least 3,000 in each session.
The Demon Deacons have been cordial hosts as Wake has yet to reach the finals of the tournament when played at Spry Stadium. In fact, no host team has ever won the tournament.