Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Ranked No. 5 in Preseason NSCAA Poll
8/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
2016 Schedule | Buy Tickets
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Wake Forest men's soccer team checked in at No. 5 in the nation, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason poll released Tuesday afternoon.
The Demon Deacons earned 484 points in the poll after finishing 17-3-2 a season ago. Last time Wake Forest opened the season ranked in the NSCAA poll in 2014 when the Demon Deacons checked in at No. 11 in the country.
Only ahead of the Deacons are defending national champion Stanford at No. 1, Akron at No. 2, Clemson at No. 3 and Maryland at No. 4. Overall, Wake Forest is one of seven ACC teams ranked in the NSCAA's preseason top 25. Six of the seven ACC teams are ranked inside the top 11 (No. 3 Clemson, No. 6 Syracuse, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 11 Boston College).
A season ago, the Deacons started the season unranked before climbing all the way to No. 1 on the way to the Elite Eight. Along the way, the Deacs took on three of the four teams ahead of them in the 2016 NSCAA poll, as they beat Akron 2-1, tied Clemson 1-1 and fell to Stanford in overtime in the Elite Eight, 2-1.
The Demon Deacons open the 2016 regular season on Friday, August 26, at Spry Stadium against Saint Louis at 7 p.m. It marks the first of six-straight games at home for Wake Forest. The season opener comes after two exhibition matches, the first coming on the road against Furman on August 14 and the second back at home against UNCW on August 20.
Tickets for the season are on sale now by visiting WakeForestSports.com. Season passes to all men's and women's games are priced at $48 for adults and $27 for children and seniors while single-game tickets are $5 with $3 tickets for groups of eight or more.
