Wake Forest Men’s Soccer Announces Exciting Slate for 2023 Schedule
4/17/2023 10:58:00 AM | Men's Soccer
The Demon Deacons’ 2023 schedule features 11 regular season home matches including hosting Atlantic Division foes Syracuse and Clemson along with a Big Four matchup against North Carolina.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Wake Forest men's soccer has announced the program's 2023 schedule, highlighted by ACC home matches against Syracuse, Clemson, North Carolina and Notre Dame along with opening weekend home action against Grand Canyon and California.
The Demon Deacons will also travel to College Park, Md., on Sept. 1 in the first meeting with Maryland in 10 years. The Terrapins are coming off their 22nd-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and claimed the Big Ten regular season title in 2022.
This year's schedule features seven opponents who were top-50 in RPI during the 2022 season along with each of the last two National Champions coming to Spry Stadium in September.
"We feel this year's schedule is one of the best assembled and toughest in the country, featuring strong opposition throughout the regular season with the always highly competitive ACC slate along with Maryland and Campbell on the road who won their conference regular season titles last year," said head coach Bobby Muuss. "We're looking forward to being in front of Deacon Nation for 12 matches including a tough exhibition match against a Denver side that won the Summit League in 2022. With your support, we have won more home matches than anyone else the last eight years and can't wait to see Spry Stadium full again this fall."
Wake Forest will open the regular season with a pair of home matches against Grand Canyon (Aug. 24) and California (Aug. 27) at Spry. The Lopes made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2020 and 2021, highlighted by a 15-4-1 record in 2021 and going 7-0-0 in regular season WAC play during the 2020-21 season. The meeting with Cal will be the fourth in program history and the second at Spry.
The Deacs' first road test will come on Friday, Sept. 1, as Wake Forest will face Maryland for the 29th time in program history. Wake Forest holds an 18-5-5 advantage in the previous 28 meetings with six of those victories coming at Ludwig Field.
Wake Forest will then return to Spry for a Labor Day showdown with Furman (Sept. 4) before traveling to Pennsylvania for the ACC opener at Pitt on Sept. 9. The Deacs sport a 5-0-0 all-time record against a Panthers squad that has made two College Cup appearances over the last three seasons.
Returning to Wake Forest for a four-match homestand, the Deacs will open with Gardner-Webb (Sept. 12) for the first meeting with the Runnin' Bulldogs since a 6-1 victory on Oct. 22, 2003.
Four days later on Sept. 16, Wake Forest will hold its ACC home opener against defending ACC and NCAA Champions Syracuse. The Deacs are 5-0-1 all-time against the Orange in Winston-Salem.
Wake Forest will remain at home for a Sept. 19 matchup with Liberty before hosting Clemson on Sept. 22 as part of Family Weekend. This matchup will mark the 55th against the Tigers as the Deacs are 25-21-8 all-time against Clemson. Last season, Wake Forest and Clemson split the season series with the Deacs claiming a 6-1 victory over Clemson at Historic Riggs Field.
The Deacs will close out the month of September and begin the month of October on the road. Wake Forest will travel east to face Campbell on Sept. 26 at the Eakes Athletic Complex. Sharing the pitch for the first time in 32 years, Campbell has finished at or above .500 each of the last six seasons and won the Big South regular season title three of the last four seasons and three Big South Tournament titles since 2018.
Wake Forest's three-match road trip continues at Boston College on Sept. 29 and NC State on Oct. 6. The Deacs will be looking for their first win at the Eagles since the 2017 season while extending their unbeaten streak at the Wolfpack to 10-straight.
Back at home for four-straight matches, Wake Forest will face Wofford (Oct. 10) and Robert Morris (Oct. 17) in non-conference action while hosting ACC opposition in North Carolina (Oct. 14) and Notre Dame (Oct. 20).
This year's match against North Carolina will serve as the program's annual Genna Wiley Memorial Match while Senior Day festivities will be held prior to kickoff against Notre Dame. Wake Forest men's soccer is also excited to celebrate the program's rich 43-year history with the annual Alumni Weekend before hosting Syracuse.
Experience The Best Fan Experience in North Carolina
2023 Wake Forest soccer season tickets are on-sale now giving fans the opportunity to witness The Best Fan Experience In North Carolina from a number of unique seating options. Adult season tickets start as low as $70 for general admission and $50 for youth while reserved chairbacks are $130 for fans and $104 for Wake Forest University faculty and staff.
To order, visit godeacs.com/tickets or call the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336.758.3322.
Creating New History
During the 2022 season, Wake Forest collected 14 more victories as the Demon Deacons have won 129 matches over the last eight years – 11 more than any other NCAA Division I program and 18 more than any other ACC program during that span.
Additionally, Wake Forest has won an NCAA-best 94 home matches since the start of the 2015 season and the Deacs' 82.9 winning percentage tops the ACC.
In the vaunted ACC – which has picked up the most NCAA Tournament bids each of the last 10 years and has placed at least five teams in the NCAA Tournament 22-straight seasons – Wake Forest (48) has won nine more regular season conference matches than any other ACC program since the 2015 opener. In that time frame, Wake Forest has also ranked in the top-10 in total attendance during every fall season.
Wake Forest's 12-straight NCAA Tournament appearances is also the longest streak in the ACC by eight years as the Demon Deacons join Indiana and Maryland as the only programs to make every NCAA Tournament over that span.
A Talented Mix of Veterans and Newcomers
Including the return of sixth-year senior and 2021 All-ACC selection Jake Swallen, seven Demon Deacons on the 2023 roster have earned at least 30 career starts and 14 have appeared in at least 30 collegiate matches.
Along with Swallen, veterans Garrison Tubbs, Jahlane Forbes, Prince Amponsah, Roald Mitchell and Babacar Niang have earned All-ACC honors while Tubbs was a United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-South Region selection in 2022. Sidney Paris was also recently named to the Puerto Rican National Team where he started two League C matches and was named to the Concacaf Nations League Best XI.
Rising junior goalkeeper Trace Alphin has started every ACC regular season match over his first two seasons in Winston-Salem along with all postseason appearances. For his career to date, Alphin has collected 12 shutouts, six of which have come against conference opponents.
Last season, Vlad Walent and Cooper Flax were also named to the All-ACC Freshman Team marking the first time since Omir Fernandez and Brandon Servania in 2017 that a pair of first-year Deacons earned selection.
For the eighth-straight season, the Demon Deacons are bringing in a top-10 nationally-ranked recruiting class, as the 2023 class is currently ranked No. 9 by TopDrawerSoccer.com. This year's incoming class includes seven freshmen along with transfer Camilo Ponce, a former high school All-American who appeared in 16 matches with 11 starts as a freshman last season at Boston College. Winston-Salem native Liam O'Gara was a mid-year enrollee for the Demon Deacons along with Ponce.
Wake Forest is the only NCAA Division program nationally to have a top-10 ranked recruiting class each of the last eight years.
2023 Wake Forest Men's Soccer Schedule
|
Date |
Opponent |
Location |
Time |
|
Aug. 13 |
Davidson (Exhibition) |
Alumni Soccer Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Aug. 19 |
Denver (Exhibition) |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Aug. 24 |
Grand Canyon |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Aug. 27 |
California |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 1 |
Maryland |
Ludwig Field |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 4 |
Furman |
Spry Stadium |
6 p.m. |
|
Sept. 9 |
Pitt* |
Ambrose Urbanic Field |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 12 |
Gardner-Webb |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 16 |
Syracuse* |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 19 |
Liberty |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 22 |
Clemson* |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 26 |
Campbell |
Eakes Athletic Complex |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 29 |
Boston College* |
Alumni Field |
7 p.m. |
|
Oct. 6 |
NC State* |
Dail Soccer Field |
7 p.m. |
|
Oct. 10 |
Wofford |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Oct. 14 |
North Carolina* |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Oct. 17 |
Robert Morris |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Oct. 20 |
Notre Dame* |
Spry Stadium |
7 p.m. |
|
Oct. 27 |
Louisville* |
Lynn Stadium |
7 p.m. |
* ACC Matches
Home Matches In Bold
