Wake Forest University
5-0-0, 1-0-0
North Carolina State University
2-1-1, 0-1-0
Wake Forest Downs NC State 2-0 in ACC Opener
9/10/2022 10:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
A complete team performance highlighted by a clean sheet and late goal from senior David Wrona sealed the 2-0 victory over NC State.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Securing a Big Four, ACC opening victory, Wake Forest's No. 4 men's soccer team (5-0-0, 1-0-0 ACC) defeated NC State (2-1-1, 0-1-0 ACC) by a final of 2-0 on Saturday night at Spry Stadium.
With the victory, Wake Forest extended its unbeaten streak against NC State to 21-straight matches and remains unblemished against the Wolfpack at Spry Stadium all-time (14-0-2). Additionally, the Demon Deacons are now 17-2-3 against Big Four foes under head coach Bobby Muuss.
In the 15th minute, Wake Forest took advantage of an NC State foul inside the box as sophomore Roald Mitchell tallied his fourth goal of the season with a successful penalty kick attempt. The Demon Deacons would grab their second goal in the 79th minute, as senior David Wrona capped off a dominating second half of possession with the first goal of his senior campaign.
Wake Forest will remain at home on Tuesday night, returning to non-conference action to face Fairleigh Dickinson. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
How It Happened
-
After an early back and forth in holding the ball, NC State logged the first shot of the night in the seventh minute but it went wide of the frame.
-
Sophomore Roald Mitchell had a great opportunity in the ninth minute that was pushed away for a Demon Deacon corner kick.
-
Junior Hosei Kijima was on the receiving end of the next Demon Deacon shot in the 14th minute, as junior Colin Thomas cut a pass inside the 18-yard box but the Yokohama, Japan, native wasn't able to put it home.
-
A minute later after NC State received a red card in the 15th minute, Mitchell buried his fourth goal of the week on a penalty kick following a foul inside the box. Despite Lucas Hatsios getting a hand on the attempt, the Montclair, N.J., native put enough power on it that Wake Forest took the early lead.
-
Mitchell now leads the Deacs with a season-high four goals.
-
-
After Kijima was taken out just outside of the box in the 26th minute, junior Jahlane Forbes thrusted a strong free kick attempt that was narrowly saved by Hatsios.
-
Through the first 30 minutes of the match, Wake Forest held a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks including six in a 5:24 span between 22:03-27:27.
-
Wake Forest held possession for 64 percent of the first half and finished the match with a 63-37 advantage.
-
Freshman Cooper Flax registered the first Deacon shot of the second half in the 52nd minute, but his long-distance strike was saved.
-
Wake Forest took a 2-0 lead in the 79th minute, as senior David Wrona logged his third career goal, finishing off a play that featured beautiful individual work from sophomore Ryan Fessler.
-
The goal was Wrona's first since recording a brace against UAB on Oct. 10, 2020.
-
Fessler and fellow sophomore Julian Kennedy became the 14th and 15th Demon Deacons respectively to record an assist this season.
-
Demon Deacon Details of Note
-
With the victory, Wake Forest extended its unbeaten streak against NC State to 21-straight matches, dating back to a 1-0 decision on Oct. 21, 2006.
-
Over the 21-match unbeaten streak, Wake Forest has gone 16-0-5.
-
-
Wake Forest now leads the all-time series 32-11-7, as the 32 victories against NC State are the most against any opponent in the program's 42-year history.
-
The Deacs are now 14-0-2 against NC State at Spry Stadium.
-
Wake Forest is now 17-2-3 against Big Four opponents (NC State, Duke and North Carolina) under head coach Bobby Muuss.
-
Wake Forest is also 8-0-3 against NC State under Muuss, outscoring the Wolfpack by 18 goals.
-
Dating back to last season, Wake Forest has now won 11-straight matches at Spry Stadium with four of those victories coming against conference opponents.
-
In those matches, Wake Forest has outscored opponents 34-4.
-
Sophomore Trace Alphin earned his 20th career start.
-
Junior Colin Thomas earned his 10th career start.
-
Junior Oscar Sears made his 35th career appearance.
-
Sophomore Bo Cummins made his 15th career appearance.
From Coach Muuss
"We got a clean sheet in the ACC at home. Obviously the game was a little different than we probably expected with the early send-off to an NC State player, but the guys managed the game well when we went up a man. You can lose your discipline, and I thought we stuck to the plan. We kept the ball for long periods of time, which we needed to do to try to stop any transitional opportunities. I'll give NC State a ton of credit. They were super organized. They were organized before and after they were down a man and were really difficult to break down. But it was a team win. Twenty-two guys played today. I couldn't be more proud of the group. It probably wasn't probably the most exciting game, but we did our job and won the game." – Bobby Muuss
Up Next
Wake Forest will host Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday night at Spry Stadium, closing out a three-match homestand.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will air on ACC Network Extra. Tickets are available for purchase here.
Team Stats
Roald Mitchell (3)
WFU Roald Mitchell PENALTY KICK GOAL.
14:44
David Wrona (1)
Assisted By: Ryan Fessler , Julian Kennedy
GOAL by WFU Wrona, David Assist by Fessler, Ryan and Kennedy, Julian.
78:36
