Wake Forest Athletics
Soccer Gameday: Wake Forest vs. SLU/Cal Poly
8/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
| Gameday Central | Wake Forest vs. Saint Louis & Cal Poly | |
| vs. Saint Louis / Cal Poly | Friday, Aug. 26, 7:00 p.m. / Sunday, Aug. 28, 7:30 p.m. |
| Location | Winston-Salem, N.C. (Spry Stadium) - Facility Information | Weather |
| SLU Coverage |  | ACC Network Extra |
| Cal Poly Coverage | |
| Game Info | @WakeMSoccer  | Wake Forest Game Notes |
WAKE FOREST OPENS SEASON VS. SAINT LOUIS AND CAL POLY
• Wake Forest opens the 2016 regular season against Saint Louis and Cal Poly at home this weekend at Spry Stadium.
• The contests are the first two game of a six-match stretch at home in which Wake Forest will welcome Cleveland State, Appalachian State, Virginia and George Washington.
• Friday's game against Saint Louis will air on ACC Network Extra.
LAST TIME OUT
• Over the course of the first two preseason games, Wake Forest battled to scoreless draws against Furman and UNCW.
• Against Furman, the Deacs outshot the Paladins 12-4 and used 23 different players in the contest, but couldn't crack the Furman defense on the way to a draw with the defending Southern Conference champions.
•Last weekend against UNCW, the Deacs fired 14 shots to UNCW's 10 and played 22 different players, but came away with the same result in a scoreless tie against the Seahawks. Andreu Cases Mundet started in goal and played the first 75 minutes with one save. Kyle Barkett replaced him for the final 15 minutes and recorded three saves.
SCOUTING THE BILLIKENS
• This season, Saint Louis was selected to win the Atlantic 10. It marks the fourth-straight season Saint Louis was picked to take home the A-10 title in the preseason poll.
• Additionally, freshmen Saadiq Mohammed and Leo Novaes were named to the league's preseason All-Rookie team. The Billikens were picked ahead of 2015 A-10 champion Dayton, VCU, Rhode Island and Fordham.
• A season ago, Saint Louis posted an 8-7-2 record and lost in the first round of the A-10 Tournament to Rhode Island.
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS
• After making the NCAA Tournament last year, Cal Poly has been picked to finish second in the Big West North Division in 2016.
• Three players - Justin Dhillon, Ruben Duran and Kody Wakasa - were each all named to the All-Big West Conference preseason team. Dhillon is Cal Poly's leading returning scorer from a season ago with three goals and eight points on 27 shots.
• Last year, Cal Poly went 11-5-5 in reaching the NCAA Tournament, but lost to UCLA in the first round.
PRESEASON POLL
• Wake Forest was picked to finish second in the ACC's Atlantic Division after garnering 62 votes and six first-place votes. The Deacs were edged by Clemson, who picked up 66 points and six first-place votes.
• In the overall picture, North Carolina was selected to win the title this season with five votes. Clemson earned three overall title votes while Notre Dame earned two. Both Wake Forest and Virginia picked up one apiece.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
• In the preseason NSCAA and College Soccer News polls, Wake Forest checked in at No. 5 in the country. Stanford, who topped Wake Forest in the Elite Eight last year on the way to the national championship, took the top spot in each poll.
• In the preseason release of the Top Drawer Soccer poll, Wake Forest checked in at No. 11.
• A season ago, Wake Forest spent the entire year at No. 1 in the NCAA's RPI rankings. At the start of the season, the Deacs were not ranked in any national poll before climbing all the way to No. 1 throughout the season.
