Wake Forest University
VCU (NCAA 3rd Round)
Men's Soccer Eliminated On Penalty Kicks
11/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 27, 2004
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - VCU goalkeeper Saul Montero stopped Wake Forest freshman Julian Valentin's penalty kick to help the Rams knock off the top-seeded Demon Deacons, 7-6, in the sudden death round of penalty kicks in NCAA Tournament third round action from Spry Stadium Saturday night.
After the match was tied, 2-2, through two 10-minute overtime periods, the Deacs and Rams entered the penalty kick stage. VCU would go first and Dominic Oduro buried his first attempt giving the Rams the early 1-0 lead.
Wake Forest senior All-American Scott Sealy would go first for the Deacs, but his attempt was stopped by Montero. The two teams would exchange made penalty kicks over the next round, but the Deacs got new life when Richard Opoku's blast sailed over the cross bar. Demon Deacon senior James Riley would follow with a conversion on his penalty kick, leaving the score tied, 2-2, through the first three rounds.
Mike Bear and Gonzalo Segares each nailed their respective kicks, as did sophomore Steven Curfman and junior Michael Parkhurst for the Deacs.
Now entering the sudden death phase of penalties, Helmis Matute knocked his shot in and Deacon senior Amir Lowery followed with a made penalty leaving it tied, 6-6. Stephen Shirley then answered with a perfectly place shot into the corner setting the stage for the Montero heroics.
Wake Forest found themselves down a goal just minutes into the match. Oduro scored his 14th goal of the season at the 6:20 mark of the first half. Chris Chaves was left alone just outside the penalty area and crossed into Oduro. The junior forward headed home the goal past Wake Forest goalkeeper Brian Edwards.
Despite the early goal, the Deacs applied some tremendous pressure on the VCU net. Wake Forest was awarded with the equalizer in the 16th minute. Moose received a pass with his back to the goal about 40 yards out and spotted sophomore Wells Thompson streaking down the right wing. Thompson then drove a pass across the goal mouth to Curfman, who calmly placed the ball past Montero and into the far corner of the net. It was Curfman's first goal of the season.
The Deacs continued to take the match to the Rams and gained the lead at the 23:14 mark. After Moose helped earn a Wake Forest corner kick, Julian Valentin headed in his second goal of the season off a perfect Curfman service.
With a goal advantage, the Deacs had four or five golden chances to extend the lead beyond a goal. Senior Stephen Keel had a brilliant chance midway through the first half. Montero mishandled a ball inside the penalty area and Keel tracked it down, but his attempt to the open net from a difficult angle missed wide. Thompson had a great chance in the second half, but his blast from just outside the box was stopped by Montero.
Sealy had the best chance of all. After a great through ball left him one-on-one with Montero, Sealy dribbled past the netminder, but his attempt to the empty net was blocked by a sliding VCU defender. Moose also had a blast from just inside the 18-yard box saved from the upper corner of the net by Montero.
With the Deacs pushing forward, VCU was able to counter. Pat Viray streaked down the center of the Demon Deacon defense and played a great through ball to an on running Oduro. The forward beat a charging Edwards and slotted home his 15th goal of the season at 65:56.
In overtime, the Demon Deacons dominated play. Not only did Wake Forest not allow a single shot to VCU in the two overtime sessions, but the Rams did not recorded a single shot after Oduro's gametying goal in the 66th minute.
The Demon Deacons close the 2004 season with a 14-5-2 record and one game shy of the program's first-ever berth into the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The match also closed the career of the greatest Wake Forest senior class in school history. Keel, Matt Koh, Lowery, Brent Pridgen, Riley, Sealy, Caugherty and Tomy Szczypiorski helped the Deacs to a pair of ACC Regular Season titles and four NCAA Tournament appearances. In all, the group posted a record of 57-18-7 (.738) -- the most victories for any senior class in school history.
-- WakeForestSports.com --
