Wake Forest Athletics
Wake Forest University
George Mason
Men's Soccer Blanks 16th-Ranked James Madison 2-0
8/31/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 31, 2001
Fairfax, Va. - The Wake Forest men's soccer team opened its 2001 season in grand fashion with a convincing 2-0 victory of 16th-ranked James Madison on Friday afternoon at the GMU/Kappa Soccer Classic in Fairfax, Va. The win marked the 78th of the career of head coach Jay Vidovich, making him the school's all-time winningest soccer coach.
Junior forward Bobby Gehring got the Deacons on the board right away with a goal less than 90 seconds into the game. The goal followed a corner kick by Christian Lonteen that found Aaron Thomas. Thomas poked the ball to a wide-open Gehring who netted the goal at the 1:21 mark. Both Lonteen and Thomas were credited with assists for their efforts. It was Gehring's first goal since his freshman season when he scored six goals.
The Dukes had a couple of chances but sophomore goalkeeper William Hesmer thwarted several scoring opportunities by dominating in the air. He made six saves on the afternoon and received help from defender Kelvin Jones who cleared a shot off the line in the first half.
In the second half, Wake Forest wasted no time in adding to its lead. Freshman Ryan Caugherty passed to sophomore Jeremiah White who fired a laser from nearly 30 yards out into the upper corner of the net for a 2-0 lead. The Deacons would cruise the rest of the way to upset the 16th-ranked Dukes and to secure the history-making victory for their head coach.
"The boys came ready to play," Vidovich said. "We were very pleased to score in the opening moments of both halves. I was happy for Bobby Gehring for scoring his goal when he did and for Jeremiah White who scored a beautiful goal. It's a good win for us, beating a team ranked by everyone in the top 20. Hopefully, it's the beginning of a good run for us."
The Deacons will face the host institution, George Mason University, on Sunday afternoon at 3:30 p.m.
Scoring Summary 1 2 - FWake Forest (1-0) 1 1 - 2James Madison (0-1) 0 0 - 0
WFU 1:21 Bobby Gehring (Aaron Thomas, Christian Lonteen)WFU 46:09 Jeremiah White (Ryan Caugherty)
Shots: Wake Forest 8, James Madison 14Saves: Wake Forest 6 (Hesmer 5, Team 1), James Madison 5Corner Kicks: Wake Forest 6, James Madison 3Fouls: Wake Forest 10, James Madison 19
