Wake Forest University
5-4-1, 1-2-1
William & Mary
3-5-0, 1-2-0
Wake Forest Defeats William & Mary 4-0
10/5/2021 9:34:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Demon Deacons scored their largest victory since a 5-0 win against the same William & Mary side on Oct. 15, 2019.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest men's soccer (5-4-1) scored its biggest win of the 2021 season on Tuesday night, as the Demon Deacons secured a 4-0 victory over William & Mary (3-5-0) at Spry Stadium.
Three different Demon Deacons logged goals on the night, highlighted by a brace from junior Omar Hernandez as he struck in the 15th and 61st minutes.
Goalkeeper Cole McNally earned the clean sheet in his first appearance since Wake Forest's 2-0 victory over Cornell on Sept. 4.
The Demon Deacons will return to conference play on Friday night, traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C., to take on North Carolina. Kick-off from Dorrance Field is scheduled for 7 p.m.
How It Happened
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Junior Omar Hernandez struck for the second time this season in the 15th minute, as the Dalton, Ga., native took a pass from sophomore Hosei Kijima before putting it past William & Mary goalkeeper Connor Andrews. It was Wake Forest's first goal in the run of play since the team's 1-1 draw with NC State on Sept. 24.
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The assist was the third of Kijima's career and his first this season.
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Freshman Roald Mitchell doubled Wake Forest's lead in the 39th minute, as the Montclair, N.J., native accepted a cross from sophomore Chase Oliver to beat Andrews.
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The goal was the first of Mitchell's career and the first by a Demon Deacon freshman this season. The assist was also Oliver's third of the season.
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Wake Forest continued to attack early in the second half, as senior Kyle Holcomb scored his team-high fourth goal of the season in the 56th minute, heading home a perfectly placed pass from sophomore Garrison Tubbs.
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Hernandez then logged his first brace of the season just five minutes later with Holcomb serving up the assist.
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The brace was the third of Hernandez's career while Holcomb now has a new season-high for assists with three.
Demon Deacon Details of Note
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Junior Takuma Suzuki made his 35th career start.
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Sophomore Hosei Kijima made his 25th career appearance with his ninth start of the season.
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Sophomore Colin Thomas made his 20th career appearance and a second-straight start.
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Freshman Ryan Fessler made his first career start.
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Freshmen Julian Kennedy and Roald Mitchell made their 10th career appearances.
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Freshman Mwinso Denkabe made his collegiate debut in the 79th minute.
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The 4-0 win was Wake Forest's largest margin of victory since a 5-0 decision against William & Mary on Oct. 15, 2019.
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With the outcome, Wake Forest now leads the all-time series against William & Mary at 8-1-0.
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The Demon Deacons have won their last three matches against the Tribe.
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Wake Forest is now 6-0-0 against William & Mary at Spry Stadium.
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The Demon Deacons have not allowed a William & Mary over the last three matches.
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Wake Forest is now 4-3-0 at home this season.
Muuss' Musings
"We needed each and every one of the guys. We were able to get an early goal and I think that was good and it settled the nerves a little bit. William and Mary is in a really good conference where they play against really good teams. But I do think that first goal and the second one put a dagger in them because we did it off the press. We changed some things up with our press today, just with our system and formation in a really short turnaround. I'm proud of the way they listened and tried to execute and we did it differently for long periods of time. It was a complete team performance. We didn't let up from the first minute to the 90th minute."
Up Next
Wake Forest will match up with North Carolina in an intrastate ACC showdown on Friday night in Chapel Hill.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will air live on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
Omar Hernandez (3)
Assisted By: Hosei Kijima
GOAL by WFU Hernandez, Omar Assist by Kijima, Hosei.
14:27
Roald Mitchell (1)
Assisted By: Chase Oliver
GOAL by WFU Mitchell, Roald Assist by Oliver, Chase.
39:54
Kyle Holcomb (4)
Assisted By: Garrison Tubbs , Nico Benalcazar
GOAL by WFU Holcomb, Kyle Assist by Tubbs, Garrison and Benalcazar, Nico.
55:07
Omar Hernandez (3)
Assisted By: Kyle Holcomb , Takuma Suzuki
GOAL by WFU Hernandez, Omar Assist by Holcomb, Kyle and Suzuki, Takuma.
60:46
