Wake Forest Athletics
Soccer Gameday: Wake Forest vs. Santa Clara & FIU
8/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
| Gameday Central | Wake Forest vs. Santa Clara | |
| vs. SCU | Friday, Aug. 28, 7 p.m. |
| Location | Winston-Salem, N.C. (Spry Stadium) Weather | Facility Info |
| Coverage | | Santa Clara Website | Twitter Updates  |
| Information | Wake Forest Notes  |
| Gameday Central | Wake Forest vs. Florida International | |
| vs. FIU | Sunday, Aug. 30, 7 p.m. |
| Location | Winston-Salem, N.C. (Spry Stadium) Weather | Facility Info |
| Coverage | | FIU Website | Twitter Updates |
| Information | Wake Forest Notes |
The Match-up
• Wake Forest opens the season against Santa Clara as the teams meet for the first time since 2006
• The last meeting between the schools was a 3-1 Demon Deacon victory in the 2006 NCAA quarterfinals at Spry Stadium, a victory that sent Wake Forest to its first NCAA College Cup
• Last year, Wake Forest posted a 10-7-2 record, while Santa Clara was 6-9-4
Last Time Out
• Wake Forest concluded the preseason schedule with a 3-0 victory over Kentucky on Aug. 22 as Jacori Hayes had two goals and Jack Harrison had a goal and an assist
• Santa Clara played Stanford to a scoreless draw on Aug. 22 in their only exhibition contest
Start of a New Era
• Tonight's game starts the Bobby Muuss era of Wake Forest men's soccer
• A former Demon Deacon assistant, Muuss was named the fourth head coach in program history on Jan. 8, 2015
• Muuss spent the last eight seasons as the head coach at the University of Denver, leading the Pioneers to a 74-56-24 record and back-to-back Summit League titles in 2013 and 2014
Experience Squad Returns
• Wake Forest returns 10 starters from last year's squad that made the 18th NCAA Tournament appearance in school history
• Three All-ACC performers return in senior forward Michael Gamble (first team), junior midfielder Ian Harkes (second team) and sophomore defender Kris Reeves (All-Freshman)
• The Demon Deacons return their top nine scorers from last season, including Gamble, Ricky Greensfelder and Jon Bakaro, who all led the team with six goals in 2014
• Goalkeeper Alec Ferrell returns after playing every minute of the 2014 season, posting a 1.28 GAA and four shutouts
THE NEWCOMERS
• Wake Forest's 2015 recruiting class is one of the best in the nation, ranked No. 7 by College Soccer News and No. 9 by TopDrawerSoccer
• The class includes midfielder Jack Harrison, the 2015 Gatorade Boys Soccer National Player of the Year
Deacons Picked Third in the Atlantic
• Wake Forest was picked to finish third in the ACC Atlantic Division in the preseason poll of the league's head coaches
• The Demon Deacons were selected behind Louisville and Clemson as Wake Forest got one of the 12 first-place votes in the poll
• Last season, Wake Forest finished third in the Atlantic Division
