Wake Forest University
NC State
Strong Defense Leads No. 10 Deacs Past NC State
9/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF) 
By Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@WakeMSoccer)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- A game-winning goal by Jacori Hayes and acrobatic saves on the defensive end led 10th-ranked Wake Forest men's soccer to a 1-0 victory Saturday night at Spry Stadium over in-state ACC rival NC State.
Now unbeaten in its last eight games, Wake Forest improved to 7-1-1 on the season and 3-0-0 in ACC play while NC State fell to 2-6-0 overall and 0-3-0 in conference action.
Hayes notched his seventh-career game-winner in the match with his second goal of the season in the 10th minute. Luis Argudo, who made his first start as a Demon Deacon in the match, fed Ian Harkes a ball near the top of the box from the right side. Harkes continued the movement across the field and found Hayes on the other side of the circle at the top of the penalty area. The senior captain stepped up and sent his chance past NC State goalkeeper Alex McCauley from 18 yards out to give Wake Forest the victory.
Sixteen minutes after Hayes scored the goal, NC State had a top-notch chance on a shot from the top-left side of the box from Lukas Zarges. Senior midfielder Ian Harkes stepped in the way of a hard shot to keep NC State off the scoreboard. Later on in the 54th minute Zarges found himself on the end of a cross in and took his shot from point-blank. He was denied the goal, though, as Alec Ferrell got across to make the save to keep it 1-0 in the Deacs' favor.
With the clean sheet, Wake Forest has now extended its team record to seven in a row dating back to Aug. 28 against Cal Poly. The Deacs broke the previous program record of five shutouts in a row last time out against Florida International. With 90 more minutes of clean soccer, the Demon Deacons have also now run their consecutive scoreless minutes streak to 728:28, which snapped the program record of 639:59 that was set in 1992.
In all, Ferrell made four saves in the contest while the Deacs outshot the Wolfpack 12-6. Now with four games under his belt this season, Ferrell has yet to be scored upon.
Wake Forest now hits the road for three games in a row starting Tuesday, Sept. 27, at Davidson. First kick against the Wildcats is set for 7 p.m. on the A-10 Network. Following the trip to Davidson, the Deacs will be at Clemson on Friday, Sept. 30, and at Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 8, before returning home again Oct. 11 for a game against Marshall.
