No. 1 Deacs Shut Down Pitt in ACC Opener, 2-0

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- No. 1 Wake Forest opened ACC play with a shutout on the road, blanking Pitt, 2-0, at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Friday night.

Andrew Pannenberg made four saves in between the posts to preserve his third shutout for the Demon Deacons (5-0-0, 1-0-0).

Michael DeShields and Machop Chol each scored their first goals of the season to take down the Panthers (1-3-1, 0-1-0).

"I'm very proud of the guys tonight in their first real road test of the year," head coach Bobby Muuss said. "Pitt has a very good, NCAA-quality team in my opinion and whenever you get three points on the road in this conference it's a great accomplishment."

DeShields netted what proved to be the game-winner in the 34th minute with a clinical header from 10 yards out off a cross from Isaiah Parente.

Chol added a goal in the 53rd minute, dribbling around a pair of defenders and beating the keeper inside the far post to push the lead to 2-0.

After the Deacs had a 9-3 advantage in shots in the opening half, Pitt rebounded with a 6-3 lead in shots in the second half. Pannenberg was up to the task, recording a season high in saves.

"We learned a lot about ourselves tonight," Muuss added. "In spells we were good, but we have a long way to go to be the team we desire to be. Right now I'm proud of this young team and we'll enjoy it for a few hours before we start preparing for JMU."

That game against James Madison, also on the road, is slated for Tuesday night at 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Michael DeShields

Machop Chol

Isaiah Parente

Justin McMaster

Players Mentioned

Machop Chol

Michael DeShields

Andrew Pannenberg

Isaiah Parente

Wake Forest Athletics