Wake Forest University
Louisville
Deacs Claim ACC Regular-Season, Atlantic Division Titles
10/30/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Second-ranked Wake Forest scored three goals in the first 17 minutes Friday night on the way to a 4-2 victory over Louisville in ACC men's soccer action to clinch the ACC regular-season title and the conference's Atlantic Division.
Now with the No. 1-seed in tow for the ACC Championship, Wake Forest finishes the regular season with a 14-1-2 record overall and 6-0-2 mark in conference play and is now unbeaten in its last 11 games overall. The unbeaten record in ACC action marks just the third time in program history Wake Forest has gone through ACC play without a setback. The loss puts Louisville, the preseason favorite in the ACC Atlantic Division, at 6-8-3 overall and 1-4-3 in conference action.
Wake Forest will next play on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 1 p.m. in the ACC Quarterfinals against either No. 8-seed Duke or No. 9-seed Louisville. The match between the Cardinals and Blue Devils will be played Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 7 p.m.
The Demon Deacons have won the ACC regular-season championship on five previous occasions, all of which came prior to the change to the divisional format, which was put in place prior to the 2014 season. Wake Forest's last regular-season championship came in 2009 when the Deacs went 17-4-3 overall and 5-2-1 in conference play while going to the College Cup.
"I couldn't be more proud of these guys. What a tremendous accomplishment," said head coach Bobby Muuss. "This is something no one will ever be able to take away from them -- to win the best conference in college soccer is a great accomplishment. The guys were focused and committed to getting a result from this game. This win is for the Wake Forest family, our alumni, our supporters, our administration and for this incredible university."
Hayden Partain had a career night with four points on two goals, both of which came in the first 11 minutes of the game. Partain's first goal came in the fifth minute when he sent a shot from 30 yards out that dipped at the last second and beat the keeper to make it 1-0. The keeper got a late jump on the shot after Partain's attempt was struck with a Louisville defender blocking the line of sight from the goalkeeper to the ball.
The junior doubled the Wake Forest lead in the 11th minute when he scored on a rebound after Jon Bakero's shot was saved. Partain followed the shot on the left side and scored his second of the game, marking his first-career two-goal game.
In the 17th minute, Jacori Hayes continued the offensive barrage with his fourth goal of the season to make it 3-0. Bakero fed Hayes with a through-ball and Hayes finished back to the left side past the keeper. With two assists in the game, Bakero set a career-high and now has 20 points on the season.
Leading 3-1 in the 64th minute, Jack Harrison made it a 4-1 advantage with a goal assisted by Brad Dunwell. The two freshmen paired up for a beautiful goal as Dunwell split two defenders while Harrison sprinted into the box. Harrison then sent his shot back to the right side past the charging goalkeeper for his seventh goal of the year, which ties him with Bakero for the team lead and extends his team-high point total to 25.
Louisville scored once in each half, the first on a header by Danny Reynolds off a corner kick and the second on a free kick from 22 yards out by Tim Kubel that sailed over the wall and just inside the left post past a diving Alec Ferrell.
Ferrell picked up his 11th win of the season in goal, making four saves in the contest. He finishes the regular season with an 11-0-2 record.
The ACC regular season concludes on Saturday with Pittsburgh taking on Notre Dame. Final seeding for the tournament will be set on Saturday. Clinched seeds include Wake Forest at No. 1, North Carolina at No. 2 as the Coastal Division champion and Clemson rounding out the top three at No. 3. Nos. 4, 5 and 6 are still up for grabs between Virginia, Notre Dame and Boston College. Syracuse earned the No. 7-seed and will take on No. 10-seed NC State on Wednesday with the winner matching up with North Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 8, in the quarterfinals.
