No. 18 Wake Forest Begins Regular Season Play Hosting Grand Canyon

Thursday, August 24

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7:00 PM

Wake Forest University

Grand Canyon

Winston-Salem, NC â?? Sep 10: NCAA Men's Soccer - NC State at Wake Forest at W. Dennie Spry Soccer Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC on September 10, 2022. (Credit: Andy Mead/YCJ)

No. 18 Wake Forest Begins Regular Season Play Hosting Grand Canyon

8/23/2023 9:18:00 AM | Men's Soccer

The Deacs' first of two home matches of the opening weekend will see Wake Forest face Grand Canyon of the WAC.

By: Stephen Czarda

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Looking to extend its ACC-best NCAA Tournament appearances streak, the No. 18 ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team will open the 2023 season on Thursday night against perennial WAC power Grand Canyon at Spry Stadium.

Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Fan Information
Parking is encouraged in lots A, B, Q, W1 & W2. A complete parking map of campus is here.

Gates open one hour prior to kickoff for all home matches.

Wake Forest Athletics is committed to providing the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina within a safe and fan-friendly environment. The first 300 fans in attendance for Thursday night's match will receive an exclusive Wake Forest soccer shirt.

Ticket Information
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.

The quickest and most efficient way to order tickets and take advantage of these new seating experiences is to visit GoDeacs.com/Tickets and purchase online or call the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322 ext. 1. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Accessibility Information
Wake Forest Athletics strives to provide content at games, social media and on GoDeacs.com that is accessible to all people. In the continued effort to improve accessibility of the technology and digital content at tomorrow's game, fans can access closed captions here for the public address announcer and in-venue content.

Wake Forest Athletics is always open to learning about new ideas and ways we can improve. Please report accessibility challenges, identify content you find inaccessible, or give us general feedback at pantagw@wfu.edu.

The Matchup

The Demon Deacons and Lopes will meet for the first time in their respective histories on Thursday night, with Wake Forest looking to secure a season-opening victory for the seventh time under head coach Bobby Muuss and the 35th time in the program's 43-year history.
Wake Forest was predicted to finish second in a stacked Atlantic Division in the ACC Preseason Poll while also securing two votes as the conference's overall champion. Grand Canyon, meanwhile, was tabbed fifth in the WAC Preseason Poll.
Wake Forest returns 10 players who started 12 or more matches last season including Roald Mitchell, Garrison Tubbs, Jahlane Forbes and Cristian Escribano who started all 20 matches played in 2022. Trace Alphin also started 19 matches during last year's campaign, picking up 13 wins while recording eight clean sheets.
The Deacs welcome seven newcomers to the roster in freshmen Liam O'Gara, Jonah Mednard, Pranav DuBroff, Jeffrey White, Travis Smith Jr. and Jose Perez and transfer Camilo Ponce. The incoming class is ranked No. 11 in TopDrawerSoccer's 2023 recruiting rankings.
Grand Canyon boasts 16 new additions to the 2023 roster and the incoming class is receiving national attention from TopDrawerSoccer.
The Lopes have won each of their last five season openers with victories over Virginia Tech (2022), UIC (2021), Houston Christian (2020), Northern Kentucky (2019) and Wisconsin (2018).

Last Time Out

Wake Forest concluded the 2022 season with a 14-6-0 record, highlighted by a 12th-straight berth into the NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. Additionally, the Demon Deacons secured a first round bye in the ACC Tournament and hosted a semifinals match at Spry Stadium.
The Deacs were the only program in the country to get through September unblemished, winning their first nine matches of the season including a 6-1 victory at top-10 ranked Clemson.
Additionally, Wake Forest set a new program record for consecutive home victories (13) in a 6-1 victory against George Mason.
Wake Forest would conclude the season with 11 wins at Spry, tying the Deacs with Kentucky and Syracuse for the most home victories during the 2022 campaign.
With 12-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, Wake Forest holds the longest consecutive streak in the ACC and the third-longest nationally.

Creating New History In A New Year

Since Bobby Muuss returned to Winston-Salem ahead of the 2015 season, Wake Forest has won more total matches (129) and collected more home wins (94) than any other NCAA Division I program over the last eight years under Muuss and Associate Head Coaches Dane Brenner and Steve Armas.
Wake Forest's 129 victories since the 2015 opener are 10 more than any other program (Indiana, 119) and 18 more than any ACC foe (Clemson, 111).
At home Wake Forest is particularly strong, sporting a 94-16-6 record at Spry Stadium over the last eight seasons. The 94 home wins are 19 more than any other NCAA Division I program (Indiana, 75).
Additionally, Wake Forest's 82.9 home winning percentage during that span is tops in the ACC.
In the vaunted ACC – which has picked up the most NCAA Tournament bids each of the last 10 seasons 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.

Scouting the Lopes

Grand Canyon will begin a tough opening slate of the season on Thursday night against the Demon Deacons before facing the defending Summit League champions Denver and No. 8 Creighton to open the season.
Last year, the Lopes began the year scoring a 2-1 victory over Virginia Tech while also knocking off No. 4 UCLA 3-2 and drawing with No. 18 UC Santa Barbara.
Junior midfielder Innocent Jibril Rodet was named to the Preseason All-WAC Team after recording two goals and an assist in 2022. The Lyon, France, native was named to the 2022 All-WAC second-team as well.
Three different goalkeepers recorded minutes during the 2022 campaign, led by Leon Schmidt who started 14 matches and recorded two shutouts.

Looking Ahead

Wake Forest will conclude the opening weekend of the season on Sunday, hosting California for the fourth all-time meeting with the Golden Bears and the first since the 2014 season.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.