Wake Forest University
Furman (Exhibition)
No. 1 Deacons Shut Out No. 20 Furman 1-0
8/23/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 23, 2008
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The No. 1 ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team closed out its exhibition schedule with a 1-0 shutout of No. 20 Furman on a beautiful Saturday evening at Spry Stadium. Junior Cody Arnoux scored the lone goal for the Deacs.
"Furman is a very quality team," head coach Jay Vidovich said. "They're very well organized for this time of year. They had a very good game plan. We feel good about a victory over a quality opponent. I think they're going to have a fantastic year."
The Wake Forest defense was solid all night, allowing only one shot on goal by Furman. The Deacons out shot the Paladins 13-8, including an 8-3 advantage in the second half. Wake Forest had four shots on goal, compared to one for Furman.
"I think it was a collective effort on defense," Vidovich said. "Akira did a good job stepping up and showing that he's going to have a good career here as a goalkeeper. The team did a good job of closing up space and making it difficult to play against us."
Wake Forest got on the board in the 36th minute. Senior Evan Brown played a cross from the far right side of the field into the box. The ball found Arnoux seven yards out and the Wilmington, N.C., native found the back of the net to score the only goal of the night.
The Deacons had several quality opportunities in the second half. In the 58th minute, freshman Luke Norman headed the ball toward the goal, but Furman goalkeeper Josh Zimmer made the save.
Furman had its best scoring chance of the evening in the 70th minute. Eric Baffour had a shot from point-blank range that was saved near the left post by Akira Fitzgerald.
In the 76th minute, Wake Forest had another quality attempt off a header. Zack Schilawski played a perfect ball into Arnoux, who got a head on it. The Furman keeper made a spectacular diving save to keep the Wake Forest lead at one.
The Deacons played solid defense the final 14 minutes to preserve the 1-0 advantage and give Fitzgerald his second win of the preseason.
Zimmer made three saves in goal for the Paladins, allowing only one goal. Fitzgerald made one save on the evening for Wake Forest as he recorded the win.
Wake Forest opens the regular season on Friday, August 29, in Chapel Hill, N.C. against Virginia Commonwealth. The match is slated to begin at 5 p.m.
-WakeForestSports.com-
