Wake Forest University
7-4-1, 2-2-1
George Washington University
3-9-2, 1-3-1
Wake Forest Defeats George Washington 3-0
10/12/2021 9:37:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Demon Deacons earned their third-straight win on Tuesday night, as Wake Forest controlled the mid-week match against George Washington.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest men's soccer (7-4-1) found the back of the net three times en route to a 3-0 victory over George Washington (3-9-2) on Tuesday night at Spry Stadium. Wake Forest has won three-straight matches and has outscored opponents 9-1 during that span.
Wake Forest collected 20 shots against the Colonials while redshirt sophomore Cole McNally earned his second-straight clean, playing all 90 minutes in net.
Sophomore Hosei Kijima opened his account for the season when he found the back of the net in the ninth minute. Kijima was first to react to the rebound following a shot from senior Kyle Holcomb. The assist was credited to Holcomb for his fourth of the season. Holcomb has racked up 60 career points for the Demon Deacons, ranks him 18th in program history.
In the 80th minute the Deacs added to their tally courtesy of a George Washington own goal.
Just four minutes later, freshman Roald Mitchell scored his second-career goal and his second goal in three games. Sophomore Chase Oliver's shot deflected off the post and landed at the feet of freshman Tareq Shihab. Shihab rifled the ball across the six yard box towards Mitchell who netted the final goal of the match. Shihab's assist was the first of his collegiate career.
The Demon Deacons will return to conference play on Saturday night, hosting No. 5 Virginia Tech in the team's annual Genna Wiley Memorial Match. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
How It Happened
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The Demon Deacons nearly took a 1-0 lead in the fourth minute, as both senior Kyle Holcomb and sophomore Hosei Kijima missed opportunities despite being the George Washington goalkeeper.
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Wake Forest continued to apply pressure, though, and was able to find the back of the net in the ninth minute after Holcomb had his initial shot saved. However, Kijima was right inside the box to coral the deflection and knocked home the goal for the early 1-0 advantage.
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The goal was the third of Kijima's career and his first since securing a brace against Boston College in the spring portion of the 2020-21 season. Holcomb was also credited with his fourth assist of the season.
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The Deacs nearly doubled their lead in the 28th minute, as junior Omar Hernandez weaved his way into the box and sent a shot that ricocheted off the left post.
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The Demon Deacons outshot the Colonials by a 12-1 margin in the first half. The 12 first half shots also marked a season-high for the squad.
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Wake Forest finished the first half with 71 percent of the possession.
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The Deacs had another chance to increase their lead early on in the second half at the 52nd minute, as junior David Wrona got a shot off inside the box that went just wide.
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On Wake Forest's fifth corner of the contest, sophomore Garrison Tubbs saw his header off the set-up go just above the net.
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In the 80th minute, the Deacs capitalized on a George Washington miscue for an own goal to make it 2-0.
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Then in the 84th minute, Wake Forest again found the back of the net after sophomore Chase Oliver had his shot bounce off the top right post. Freshman Tareq Shihab collected the miss and sent his pass across the keeper to find a wide-open Roald Mitchell who tapped the ball in for the 3-0 advantage.
Demon Deacon Details of Note
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Junior Nico Benalcazar made his 45th career appearance and earned his 40th career start.
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Senior Kyle Holcomb earned his 40th career start.
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Senior Holland Rula earned his 35th career start.
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Junior Takuma Suzuki earned his 30th career start.
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Junior Omar Hernandez made his 25th career start.
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Junior Sebastian Scrivner made his 15th career appearance.
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Redshirt sophomore Cole McNally made his 15th career appearance
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Sophomore Prince Amponsah made his 25th career appearance and his 10th start of this season.
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Sophomore Garrison Tubbs made his 25th career appearance.
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Sophomore Colin Thomas earned his fifth career start.
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Freshman Nicolas Mancilla made his 10th career appearance.
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With the outcome, Wake Forest now leads the all-time series 1-0-2.
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Wake Forest is now 7-1-2 against A-10 opponents under head coach Bobby Muuss including victories over George Washigton and George Mason this season.
Muuss' Musings
"It was solid. I think our press was good, I think our reactions were good. I thought we could have put the game away a little bit earlier and made it a little bit easier than we did. I think we hit the post or the bar three or four times in the game and we missed a couple of sitters to put the game away. The keeper makes a couple of saves and they block a couple of shots. But in the end we got a clean sheet and we got a win. We got a lot of guys on the field and got some more experience."
Up Next
Wake Forest will host No. 5 Virginia Tech in a key mid-October ACC showdown at Spry Stadium.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will air live on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
Hosei Kijima (1)
Assisted By: Kyle Holcomb
GOAL by WFU Kijima, Hosei Assist by Holcomb, Kyle.
08:32
0
GOAL by WFU TEAM.
79:16
Roald Mitchell (2)
Assisted By: Tareq Shihab
GOAL by WFU Mitchell, Roald Assist by Shihab, Tareq.
83:15
