Wake Forest University
Liberty
Men's Soccer Upset by Liberty
9/12/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 12, 2000
LYNCHBURG, VA. -- The fifth-ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team was upset on Tuesday night 4-2 by the Liberty Flames in Lynchburg, Va. The Deacs drop to 2-2 while Liberty improves to 1-3.
Trailing 3-0 late in the game, Wake Forest mounted a comeback that produced two goals. Sophomore midfielder Adam Hakes scored his first of the season to cut the Liberty lead to two with 13:05 remaining on an assist from Jaron Barbee.
With just 5:39 remaining, the Flames got lackadaisical in their own box as goalkeeper Dean Short was unable to clear the ball and freshman Vicente Bastidas deflected the ball into the net.
Unfortunately for the Deacs, the comeback was not enough as the Jose Gomez scored his second goal of the night with four minutes left to put the game out of reach.
We didn't come out and control the game in its early stages and it cost us. We'll have to do better against Virginia,? head coach Jay Vidovich said. ?Give credit to Coach Bell and his team. They did a tremendous job. They really got after it tonight.?
The Deacs had two scoring opportunities in the first half but couldn't find the back of the net. Wake Forest's first scoring opportunity came with 22 minutes remaining in the first half. Chris Lonteen's free kick >from just outside the top of the box sailed high. Moments later, the Flames turned the ball over in their own end and the Deacs had a three-on-one but were called offside.
Just moments later, the Flames scored the game's first goal. Chris Verdi took a free kick on the left side and found Kian Brownlee. He fired a blast across the box and behind senior goalkeeper Rob Vartughian. The Flames continued to apply pressure in the Wake Forest end and threatened to extend their lead. Sophomore defender Bobby Gehring cleared a shot off the line to prevent the Flames from taking a larger lead.
The score remained unchanged for the rest of the half with the Flames holding a 1-0 lead. Shots were even at seven.
Liberty took a 2-0 advantage just two minutes into the second half on a Jason Streets goal. The Deacs came storming back with their two best scoring chances of the game. Stafford beat his man to the left of the goal and rocketed a shot that clanged off the crossbar. Later, Stafford crossed the ball to Lonteen but his header went just wide on the right side.
Wake Forest was forced to play a man down for the final 29 minutes of the game as freshman defender Kelvin Jones picked up a red card after he got tangled up with a Liberty attacker on a breakaway.
The Deacons return to Winston-Salem for their ACC opener against Virginia on Saturday. A capacity crowd is expected for the 7:00 kickoff at Spry Stadium for the matchup between top-15 teams.
Wake Forest (2-2) vs. Liberty (1-3)
Date: Sep 12, 2000 Attendance: 421
Weather: Sunny, breezy
Goals by Period 1 2 Tot Wake Forest 0 2 2 Liberty 1 3 4
SCORING SUMMARY:
1 26:31 LU BROWNLEE, Kian (1) (VERDI, Chris) - from 15 yards out
2 47:23 LU STREETS, Jason (2) (GOMEZ, Jose)
3 67:10 LU GOMEZ, Jose (3) (BROWNLEE, Kian)
4 76:49 WF HAKES, Adam (1) (BARBEE, Jaron)
5 84:19 WF BASTIDAS, Vincente (1) (unassisted) - breakaway
6 86:20 LU GOMEZ, Jose (2) (unassisted)
Shots: Wake Forest 20, Liberty 17
Saves: Wake Forest 9 (VARTUGHIAN, Rob 8, TEAM 1), Liberty 6 (SHORT, Dean 6)
