Photo by: Brian Westerholt/Sports On Film
Wake Forest Established as a College Soccer Power
12/14/2019 5:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Demon Deacons reached their sixth College Cup of the last 13 years.
Though the Deacs' NCAA Tournament run came to an end Friday night in a 2-1 loss to No. 1 seed Virginia in the College Cup semifinal in Cary, there's no disputing that Wake Forest soccer has established itself as a national powerhouse.
The Deacs have now reached the College Cup six times, all within the last 13 seasons. Since the hire of coach Bobby Muuss in 2015, Wake Forest leads the country with 89 victories, leading second-place Indiana with 78.
Graduating senior two-time All-American Bruno Lapa was able to compete in College Cups in both his freshman and senior campaigns.
"Going to two Final Fours in four years for us is pretty special," a rain-soaked Lapa said after the loss to Virginia. "We're a capable team and capable program. I was talking to the young guys, telling them that we have the players and the coaching staff to come back. I'm confident that this team will be back in the College Cup in the next couple years."
While the foundation and culture have been set in the Wake Forest soccer program, Muuss understands the potential pitfalls as he looks to build upon this tradition.
"I think college soccer is constantly evolving," Muuss said. "To try to stay on top is extremely hard. There's a lot of things that go into that. There are programs that have underclassmen where they don't know if they'll be returning to school in January. There are programs who have players signed and they don't know if they will show up in August.
"College is evolving. To stay on top in college soccer is one of the most difficult things you can do. That's why you see ups and downs, and ebbs and flows even with some of the major teams."
The unique combination of top-flight academics coupled with an exciting brand of soccer is a package Muuss believes resonates with elite prospects.
"It's our goal to stay there," he said. "I think we have a really good culture in place to continue that. I think kids want to come to Wake Forest to get one of the best degrees in the country. We think we play a pretty good style and brand of football. We're going to continue to try to recruit some of the best young men around, but there are a lot of other schools who will try to do the same.
"I think we're in a good place and the future is bright. We have a lot of work in front of us between January and August to get to a place like this."
This was a Wake Forest team that was somehow playing its best soccer at the end of the season, despite losing more than 85 player-games from potential starters because of multiple injuries.
"To say that we were going to be in the College Cup with the people who were in and out with injuries — yeah, I'm extremely proud," Muuss said. "It was next man up mentality. We had guys playing in the postseason who didn't play in the regular season. We had guys starting in the postseason who didn't play in the regular season."
After Wake Forest junior Machop Chol was fouled in the box, Lapa deposited a penalty kick in the back of the net to close the Cavalier lead to one goal with more than 11 minutes remaining.
"I'm glad we got a goal to try to make a game of it," Muuss said. "I thought the guys deserved something out of the game. When we got that, the energy that it brought was something special."
"I know as a coach, I won't forget it. It gave us hope. All season long, it's been an incredible atmosphere at Spry. We wanted to give them another opportunity to cheer on Sunday, but we'll have to wait until August."
Through a driving rain for the full 90 minutes, the Wake Forest faithful continued to cheer in the WakeMed Soccer Park stands and the Deacs continued to battle on the pitch.
"I commend my guys for the way they fought today. I thought they showed a lot. We never gave up," Muuss said. "We played to the final whistle. We just didn't finish. They gave it everything they had. Lose or win, I'm an extremely proud coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2019 team, because these guys showed a lot of class and guts today.
"The performance they put on for a good bit of the game today? I'm beaming with pride."
The Deacs have now reached the College Cup six times, all within the last 13 seasons. Since the hire of coach Bobby Muuss in 2015, Wake Forest leads the country with 89 victories, leading second-place Indiana with 78.
Graduating senior two-time All-American Bruno Lapa was able to compete in College Cups in both his freshman and senior campaigns.
"Going to two Final Fours in four years for us is pretty special," a rain-soaked Lapa said after the loss to Virginia. "We're a capable team and capable program. I was talking to the young guys, telling them that we have the players and the coaching staff to come back. I'm confident that this team will be back in the College Cup in the next couple years."
While the foundation and culture have been set in the Wake Forest soccer program, Muuss understands the potential pitfalls as he looks to build upon this tradition.
"I think college soccer is constantly evolving," Muuss said. "To try to stay on top is extremely hard. There's a lot of things that go into that. There are programs that have underclassmen where they don't know if they'll be returning to school in January. There are programs who have players signed and they don't know if they will show up in August.
"College is evolving. To stay on top in college soccer is one of the most difficult things you can do. That's why you see ups and downs, and ebbs and flows even with some of the major teams."
The unique combination of top-flight academics coupled with an exciting brand of soccer is a package Muuss believes resonates with elite prospects.
"It's our goal to stay there," he said. "I think we have a really good culture in place to continue that. I think kids want to come to Wake Forest to get one of the best degrees in the country. We think we play a pretty good style and brand of football. We're going to continue to try to recruit some of the best young men around, but there are a lot of other schools who will try to do the same.
"I think we're in a good place and the future is bright. We have a lot of work in front of us between January and August to get to a place like this."
This was a Wake Forest team that was somehow playing its best soccer at the end of the season, despite losing more than 85 player-games from potential starters because of multiple injuries.
"To say that we were going to be in the College Cup with the people who were in and out with injuries — yeah, I'm extremely proud," Muuss said. "It was next man up mentality. We had guys playing in the postseason who didn't play in the regular season. We had guys starting in the postseason who didn't play in the regular season."
After Wake Forest junior Machop Chol was fouled in the box, Lapa deposited a penalty kick in the back of the net to close the Cavalier lead to one goal with more than 11 minutes remaining.
"I'm glad we got a goal to try to make a game of it," Muuss said. "I thought the guys deserved something out of the game. When we got that, the energy that it brought was something special."
"I know as a coach, I won't forget it. It gave us hope. All season long, it's been an incredible atmosphere at Spry. We wanted to give them another opportunity to cheer on Sunday, but we'll have to wait until August."
Through a driving rain for the full 90 minutes, the Wake Forest faithful continued to cheer in the WakeMed Soccer Park stands and the Deacs continued to battle on the pitch.
"I commend my guys for the way they fought today. I thought they showed a lot. We never gave up," Muuss said. "We played to the final whistle. We just didn't finish. They gave it everything they had. Lose or win, I'm an extremely proud coach of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2019 team, because these guys showed a lot of class and guts today.
"The performance they put on for a good bit of the game today? I'm beaming with pride."
Players Mentioned
Midfielder/Forward
/ Men's Soccer
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