Photo by: Brian Westerholt/Sports On Film
Deacs Overcoming Adversity During Tournament Run
12/2/2019 3:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer, Les Johns
Wake Forest clinched a spot in the NCAA quarterfinals despite several missing pieces.
As the Deacs were about to spring onto the Spry Stadium pitch for their NCAA Sweet 16 match against Michigan, coach Bobby Muuss had a simple message for senior midfielder Joey DeZart, who couldn't compete because of an illness.
"We're going to win," Muuss told DeZart. "You're going to have another week of training and be back on the field next week.
"And we didn't miss a beat, and that's no disrespect to Joey," Muuss said following the Wake Forest 3-1 victory over the Wolverines.
Have lost more than 80 player-games from starters or potential starters, Muuss is having to become adept at sliding just the right guy to replace crucial missing pieces. Sunday night, it was Kyle McCurley who got the start and played 83 minutes.
"I can't say enough about Kyle McCurley," Muuss said. "He came in to fill the shoes of Joey DeZart, a senior leader of this group who has played nearly every minute this year. On the biggest stage, in the most important game of the year. And he played."
The victory advanced No. 4 seeded Wake Forest to an Elite Eight matchup at 5 p.m. Saturday, back in Spry Stadium, against unseeded UC Santa Barbara. The win also set off a raucous celebration by both team and fans.
"It's next man up," Muuss said. "The adversity this group has faced has been incredible. That's what you're seeing in the excitement. All the hard work has paid off."
Muuss cited work done in the game by freshman David Wrona and redshirt senior Tater Rennhack.
"Tater Rennhack, what he's done down the stretch — this is why he stayed here for five years," Muuss said. "Wrona was an absolute handful — that was 19 really effective minutes."
Junior Justin McMaster will have surgery and be out the rest of the way.
"We're playing for him," Muuss said. "Koby Carr hasn't played all year, but he's bringing energy in training right now. Dom Peters has been in and out. We've had so many injuries and games missed by really, really good college soccer players.
"All the work we've put in is paying off, as long as we do it together. It's been a collective, balanced performance."
The Deacs have found answers on the bench and put three goals on the board in back-to-back games against stingy Big Ten opponents.
"To get a third goal is fantastic against a team who hasn't allowed a goal in a long time," Muuss said. "That's back-to-back opponents from the Big Ten, who haven't conceded in awhile. I think we showed not only Wake Forest's ability to play, but also the ACC."
Clinging to a 1-0 lead mid-second half, a Wake Forest turnover led to a one-on-one opportunity for Michigan on a break that went wide right. Just a couple minutes later, Wake extended the lead with Bruno Lapa penalty kick.
"We dodged a bullet on a one-on-one after a turnover at midfield," Muuss said. "We don't like self-inflicted wounds, and we had a couple of those today. It was a gutsy performance.
"I looked down at their bench, and they were deflated from that. We were relieved, and it gave us energy. We definitely dodged a bullet. We had a really silly turnover. There was a cluster of mistakes. They had beat (goalkeeper) Andrew (Pannenberg). I thought it was in the back of the net. Everyone was shocked, including him. But you create your own luck with the work you do all the way from June and July. This team has been working their tail off since then to be in this situation."
Junior Machop Chol, who tallied his team-leading eighth assist in the win over Michigan, has faith that the Deacs will carry this momentum into Saturday's game against the Gauchos.
"The mindset this week is to come to training, work hard and perform as we have the last two weeks," he said. "Training reflects on the field. We're scoring a lot of goals. We're really finding our rhythm and coming together as a team. If we keep working hard, nobody is going to be able to stop us."
"We're going to win," Muuss told DeZart. "You're going to have another week of training and be back on the field next week.
"And we didn't miss a beat, and that's no disrespect to Joey," Muuss said following the Wake Forest 3-1 victory over the Wolverines.
Have lost more than 80 player-games from starters or potential starters, Muuss is having to become adept at sliding just the right guy to replace crucial missing pieces. Sunday night, it was Kyle McCurley who got the start and played 83 minutes.
"I can't say enough about Kyle McCurley," Muuss said. "He came in to fill the shoes of Joey DeZart, a senior leader of this group who has played nearly every minute this year. On the biggest stage, in the most important game of the year. And he played."
The victory advanced No. 4 seeded Wake Forest to an Elite Eight matchup at 5 p.m. Saturday, back in Spry Stadium, against unseeded UC Santa Barbara. The win also set off a raucous celebration by both team and fans.
"It's next man up," Muuss said. "The adversity this group has faced has been incredible. That's what you're seeing in the excitement. All the hard work has paid off."
Muuss cited work done in the game by freshman David Wrona and redshirt senior Tater Rennhack.
"Tater Rennhack, what he's done down the stretch — this is why he stayed here for five years," Muuss said. "Wrona was an absolute handful — that was 19 really effective minutes."
Junior Justin McMaster will have surgery and be out the rest of the way.
"We're playing for him," Muuss said. "Koby Carr hasn't played all year, but he's bringing energy in training right now. Dom Peters has been in and out. We've had so many injuries and games missed by really, really good college soccer players.
"All the work we've put in is paying off, as long as we do it together. It's been a collective, balanced performance."
The Deacs have found answers on the bench and put three goals on the board in back-to-back games against stingy Big Ten opponents.
"To get a third goal is fantastic against a team who hasn't allowed a goal in a long time," Muuss said. "That's back-to-back opponents from the Big Ten, who haven't conceded in awhile. I think we showed not only Wake Forest's ability to play, but also the ACC."
Clinging to a 1-0 lead mid-second half, a Wake Forest turnover led to a one-on-one opportunity for Michigan on a break that went wide right. Just a couple minutes later, Wake extended the lead with Bruno Lapa penalty kick.
"We dodged a bullet on a one-on-one after a turnover at midfield," Muuss said. "We don't like self-inflicted wounds, and we had a couple of those today. It was a gutsy performance.
"I looked down at their bench, and they were deflated from that. We were relieved, and it gave us energy. We definitely dodged a bullet. We had a really silly turnover. There was a cluster of mistakes. They had beat (goalkeeper) Andrew (Pannenberg). I thought it was in the back of the net. Everyone was shocked, including him. But you create your own luck with the work you do all the way from June and July. This team has been working their tail off since then to be in this situation."
Junior Machop Chol, who tallied his team-leading eighth assist in the win over Michigan, has faith that the Deacs will carry this momentum into Saturday's game against the Gauchos.
"The mindset this week is to come to training, work hard and perform as we have the last two weeks," he said. "Training reflects on the field. We're scoring a lot of goals. We're really finding our rhythm and coming together as a team. If we keep working hard, nobody is going to be able to stop us."
Players Mentioned
Midfielder/Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Forward/Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Forward
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