Wake Forest University
1-0-0, 0-0-0
Grand Canyon
0-1-0, 0-0-0
No. 18 Demon Deacons Secure Season-Opening Victory Against Grand Canyon
8/24/2023 11:20:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Deacs fought back from an early deficit to score a 3-1 victory in Thursday night’s debut match of the 2023 season.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The No. 18 ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) earned a 3-1 victory over Grand Canyon (0-1-0, 0-0-0 WAC) in the 2023 season opener on Thursday night at Spry Stadium.
The Demon Deacons would briefly fall behind in the first half as the Lopes took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. However, Wake Forest responded the very next minute courtesy a goal from Roald Mitchell before Babacar Niang also found the back of the net in the 27th minute to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
In the second half, Wake Forest earned a third goal on the night off a Sidney Paris converted penalty kick in the 76th minute.
In the victory, Wake Forest has now won 11-straight non-conference regular season matches at Spry Stadium dating back to a 4-0 victory over William & Mary on Oct. 5, 2021. In those 11 contests, the Deacs have outscored opponents a combined 38-6.
Freshmen Liam O'Gara and Travis Smith Jr. earned starts in their collegiate debuts while junior Bo Cummins made his first career start in his 23rd appearance for the Deacs.
Wake Forest will wrap up the opening weekend of the 2023 season on Sunday evening, as the Demon Deacons host Pac-12 side Cal at Spry. Kick-off for the match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will air on ACC Network Extra.
How It Happened
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Roald Mitchell recorded the first two shots of the night, receiving passes from Hosei Kijima inside the 18-yard box each time with the second attempt needing to be saved.
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While Grand Canyon would strike first off of a restart at 10:48, the Demon Deacons responded just 71 second later as Mitchell buried Wake Forest's first goal of the season and the 13th of his career.
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For Kijima, who was playing in his first match since Oct. 1, 2022, it marked the ninth assist of his career.
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Liam O'Gara nearly added to Wake Forest's total off a 20th minute corner kick from Babacar Niang, but his header went wide of the frame.
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The Deacs would, however, take a 2-1 lead in the 27th minute as Niang beat a diving Leon Schmidt to give Wake Forest an advantage it would take into halftime.
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Niang would take three shots in an eight-second span before collecting his sixth career goal.
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Kijima and Jahlane Forbes earned assists on Niang's goal. Kijima's two-assist performance was the second of his career with the first coming in Wake Forest's 2-1 victory over Kentucky in the Round of 16 of the 2021 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.
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The Deacs finished the first half with a 17-4 advantage in shots.
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Wake Forest continued to apply pressure early in the second half, with five shots in the first 16 minutes following the break.
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A third goal for Wake Forest would come in the 76th minute as Camilo Ponce drew a foul inside the box. Sidney Paris stepped up to the spot and converted on the penalty kick for his fifth career goal and first as a Deacon.
Winning Ways At Spry
Since Bobby Muuss became head coach prior to the 2015 season, Wake Forest has created the most difficult environment in college soccer at Spry Stadium each matchday. With Thursday's victory, the Demon Deacons are now 95-16-6 at home under Muuss.
The 95 victories are the most in the country over the nine-year span:
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Wake Forest (95 home victories)
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Indiana (75 home victories)
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Kentucky (73 home victories)
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Clemson (71 home victories)
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Georgetown (71 home victories)
With Thursday evening's victory, Wake Forest has also collected 11-straight home regular season victories against non-conference foes.
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Wake Forest 3, Grand Canyon 1 (Aug. 24, 2023)
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Wake Forest 3, Wofford 0 (Oct. 18, 2022)
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Wake Forest 1, Jacksonville 0 (Oct. 4, 2022)
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Wake Forest 6, George Mason 1 (Sept. 20, 2022)
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Wake Forest 3, Fairleigh Dickinson 2 (Sept. 13, 2022)
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Wake Forest 5, Winthrop 1 (Sept. 6, 2022)
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Wake Forest 2, Air Force 1 (Aug. 28, 2022)
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Wake Forest 1, UCF 0 (Aug. 25, 2022)
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Wake Forest 7, Loyola Maryland 0 (Oct. 19, 2021)
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Wake Forest 3, George Washington 0 (Oct. 12, 2021)
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Wake Forest 4, William & Mary 0 (Oct. 5, 2021)
On The Front Foot
For the 35th time in the program's 43-year history and the seventh in Muuss' nine seasons as head coach, the Demon Deacons opened the season with a victory: The season-opening victories for the Deacs under Muuss are:
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Wake Forest 3, Grand Canyon 1 (2023)
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Wake Forest 1, UCF 0 (2022)
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Wake Forest 3, Louisville 1 (2020)
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Wake Forest 2, UCF 1 (2019)
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Wake Forest 2, Indiana 1 (OT, 2018)
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Wake Forest 5, Rutgers 1 (2017)
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Wake Forest 1, Santa Clara 0 (2015)
Demon Deacon Details of Note
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Junior Babacar Niang earned his 15th career start in his 25th career appearance.
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Senior Garrison Tubbs made his 55th career appearance.
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Two Demon Deacons made their collegiate debuts in the Starting XI: Liam O'Gara and Travis Smith Jr.
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Junior Bo Cummins earned his first career start as well.
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Freshman Jeffrey White made his collegiate debut, entering the match in the 67th minute.
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Freshman Jose Perez made his collegiate debut as well, entering the match in the
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Thursday's match marked the first-ever meeting between Wake Forest and Grand Canyon.
From Coach Muuss
"Going into the game, the goal was to be 1-0, so we're 1-0. In terms of performance, I thought it was two completely different halves for us. I thought some of the football in the first half was very good and we were a little bit unfortunate. I thought their goalkeeper stood on his head with a couple of unbelievable saves. Some really good final-third play from us, we were unfortunate not to be up a couple at halftime, but I'm proud of the guys. We went down a goal early and then came back and scored two in the first half, which put us in the driver's seat. We had a lot of young guys play today. Travis played 90, Liam played 90, Ernesto Perez came in and did well, Jeffery White came in and played as well."
Up Next
Wake Forest will remain at home to conclude the opening weekend of the season on Sunday, hosting Cal in the first meeting between the two programs since the 2014 season.
Kick-off will be at 7 p.m. and the contest will air on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
Bright Nutornutsi (1)
Assisted By: Jorge Lopez
GOAL by GCU Nutornutsi, Bright Assist by Lopez, Jorge.
10:48
Roald Mitchell (1)
Assisted By: Hosei Kijima , Sidney Paris
GOAL by WFU Mitchell, Roald Assist by Kijima, Hosei and Paris, Sidney.
12:01
Babacar Niang (1)
Assisted By: Hosei Kijima , Jahlane Forbes
GOAL by WFU Niang, Babacar Assist by Kijima, Hosei and Forbes, Jahlane.
26:21
Sidney Paris
WFU Sidney Paris PENALTY KICK GOAL.
75:37
