Wake Forest Facing Notre Dame in All-ACC Sweet Sixteen Showdown

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Wake Forest men's soccer will face the 2021 ACC Tournament champion Notre Dame on Sunday evening at Alumni Stadium, as the Demon Deacons will look to advance to the program's third-straight Elite Eight appearance.

Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the match will air live on ACC Network Extra.

The Matchup

Wake Forest and Notre Dame will meet for the 14th time ever on Sunday night in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2021 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.
The Demon Deacons have won two of the last three matchups with the Fighting Irish.
The two schools share an even 1-1-0 record in NCAA Tournament games. Wake Forest beat Notre Dame in the Elite Eight of the 2007 NCAA Tournament before winning the program's first National Championship. Notre Dame beat Wake Forest in the 2013 NCAA Tournament and before later claiming the program's first NCAA Championship.
The Demon Deacons lead the all-time series 7-4-2. The last meeting between the two schools was during the spring portion of the 2020-21 season. The Deacs took down the Irish 3-2 in South Bend with a late game-winner from Kyle Holcomb.
The Demon Deacons enter this match with a 13-6-1 following a win over No. 13 seeded FIU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Irish earned a first round bye after winning the ACC Tournament. Notre Dame then beat Villanova 3-0 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Deacs qualified for their 11th-straight NCAA Tournament and their 25th tournament appearance. Notre Dame is appearing in its 23rd NCAA Tournament.
Wake Forest has won nine of its last 11 matches. The Deacs have outscored their opponents 34-13 during that span, highlighted by a 7-0 victory over Loyola Maryland, a 3-1 victory over then-No. 5 Virginia Tech and a 3-2 victory over No. 14 FIU.
The Demon Deacons are 9-4-1 all-time in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

Last Time Out

Wake Forest took down No. 13 seeded FIU in the second round of the NCAA Tournament 3-2 at FIU Soccer Stadium on Sunday night.
Entering the match, FIU had a perfect 7-0-0 record in front of the home fans in Miami.
Senior Kyle Holcomb netted his third goal in two matches to bring his tally to 12 for the season.
Sophomore Chase Oliver scored his fourth goal of the season and his first since September to give the Deacs a 2-1 lead at halftime.
Freshman Roald Mitchell fired in his fifth goal of the season in the 64th minute just 24 seconds after FIU tied the contest at two. The goal was Mitchell's second game-winning goal of the campaign.
Freshman goalkeeper Trace Alphin made three saves to secure his 10th win of the season.
Freshman Tareq Shihab earned his first career start and played all 90 minutes.

Quick Hits

The Demon Deacons' attack this season has been led by senior Kyle Holcomb. Holcomb has totaled 12 goals and provided four assists. His 28 points are also a team-high.
Holcomb has broken into the top-10 in program history for both career goals (33) and career points (74).
Five different Demon Deacons have logged at least four assists on the season. Redshirt junior Jake Swallen leads the way with six assists. Sophomores Garrison Tubbs and Hosei Kijima both have five while Holcomb and sophomore Chase Oliver have tallied four apiece.
Tubbs has played 1,636 minutes for the Demon Deacons, most on the team thus far.
Wake Forest has 21 players that have tallied at least one goal contribution, 15 of them are either sophomores or freshmen.

Wake Forest In The NCAA Tournament

With its inclusion in this year's event, Wake Forest has now reached the NCAA Tournament 11-straight seasons.
The streak is the longest in the ACC by five seasons (Virginia Tech, six).
Additionally, Wake Forest is tied with Maryland for the second-longest NCAA Tournament appearances streak nationally, trailing only Indiana.
Wake Forest, Indiana and Maryland are the only schools in the country to make the NCAA Tournament each of the last seven seasons.
Wake Forest has reached these marks while playing in the toughest conference in the country.
This season, the ACC once again has the most teams in the NCAA Tournament at eight. The MAC is second with five teams.
This year will mark the 25th NCAA Tournament appearance in the program's 41-year history.
Wake Forest has made the College Cup six times -- including twice under seventh-year head coach Bobby Muuss -- and won the 2007 National Championship.

Scouting The Fighting Irish

Notre Dame won the 2021 ACC Tournament to mark the fifth different winner of the conference tournament in as many seasons. The Irish beat the likes of NC State, Louisville, Pitt, and Duke en route to their first ACC Championship since 2012.
The Irish hold a record of 5-3-1 against teams currently ranked inside the top-25. Notre Dame defeated No. 19 Northern Illinois, No. 17 Indiana, No. 9 Clemson and No. 5 Pitt twice.
Notre Dame is making its 23rd NCAA Tournament appearance and ninth since 2012.
The Irish are currently on a five-match unbeaten streak and have not surrendered a goal during that span.

Looking Ahead

If Wake Forest wins, the Demon Deacons will face the winner of the third round match between Pitt and Hofstra next weekend.

Wake Forest Athletics

Wake Forest Facing Notre Dame in All-ACC Sweet Sixteen Showdown

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Players Mentioned

Trace Alphin

Kyle Holcomb

Hosei Kijima

Roald Mitchell

Chase Oliver

Tareq Shihab

Jake Swallen

Garrison Tubbs

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