Wake Forest Falls in ACC Tournament Semifinals

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The No. 4 seeded Wake Forest men's soccer team (14-5-0, 5-3-0 ACC) fell to No. 8 seeded Clemson (13-5-1, 3-4-1 ACC) by a final of 2-0 in Wednesday night's ACC Tournament semifinal match at Spry Stadium.

Wake Forest entered the halftime break trailing 1-0, as Clemson took an early lead on a 14th-minute goal. The Tigers then extended their lead to 2-0 in the 60th minute to advance to Sunday's ACC Championship match to face No. 2 seeded Syracuse at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

Wake Forest will now turn its attention to Monday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which will take place at 1 p.m. and be streamed on NCAA.com.

The Demon Deacons have made 11-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, tied for the second longest streak nationally and the longest amongst all ACC schools.

How It Happened

Both sides came out of the opening kickoff with physicality, as there were four fouls in the opening three minutes including a Clemson yellow card.
Clemson was provided a dangerous free kick opportunity just at the top of the 18-yard box in the 11th minute, but the Deacs blocked back-to-back shot attempts from the Tigers.
The Tigers would take the lead in the 14th minute, as Brandon Parrish put Clemson on the board first with a goal from distance.
Clemson was issued a second yellow card in the 17th minute.
Sophomore Trace Alphin would make three saves in the first half, including two attempts in a one-minute span against Clemson's Isaiah Reid.
Despite holding a majority of possession in the first half, Wake Forest did not record a shot in the opening 45 minutes.
Alphin picked up a fourth save on the night in the 47th minute.
- He finished the night with five saves.
Clemson would push its lead to 2-0 in the 60th minute off a goal from Derek Waleffe.
Redshirt sophomore Cristian Escribano logged the Deacs' first shot of the night in the 65th minute that went wide of the frame.
The Deacs created a scoring opportunity again in the 70th minute, but junior Oscar Sears' pass inside the box to sophomore Roald Mitchell was gobbled up before Wake Forest could strike.
Mitchell nearly got the Deacs a goal back in the 84th minute, but a tap that would beat Clemson's Joseph Andema's rolled to the side of the frame.
- It marked the final shot of the night for the Deacs in a 2-0 loss.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

Wake Forest's lead in the all-time series against Clemson is now 25-21-8.
Wednesday's match marked the first ACC Tournament match between the two sides since Wake Forest defeated Clemson in the 2017 semifinals 2-1 at Spry.
Senior Takuma Suzuki earned his 55th career start.
Junior Jahlane Forbes earned his 40th start in his 50th career appearance.
Sophomore Roald Mitchell made his 40th career appearance.
Sophomore Trace Alphin made his 35th career appearance.

From Coach Muuss
"The first thing I want to say is that I want to thank the fans that came out. The community stayed up late to support the Deacons and I apologize for the performance. After the Virginia Tech game, I thought the focus and the regeneration over the last few days had actually been quite good, but hats off to Clemson. They were on the front foot from the start and it was a well-deserved win. You've just got to tip your cap to them. We have to pick our heads up and reboot in some ways. We just lost a bad battle." - Bobby Muuss

Up Next
Wake Forest will learn its postseason fate on Monday afternoon during the 2022 NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Next Event

Team Stats

Roald Mitchell

Cristian Escribano

Wake Forest Athletics