Tuesday, September 12
Winston-Salem, N.C.
7:00 PM
Wake Forest University
3-1-2, 0-1-0
4
vs
0
Gardner-Webb
2-1-1, 0-0-0
1
2
F
Gardner-Webb
0
0
0
Wake Forest
1
3
4
No. 20 Wake Forest Collects 4-0 Victory Over Gardner-Webb
9/12/2023 11:01:00 PM | Men's Soccer
With goals from four different goalscorers along with two highlight stops from Trace Alphin, the Deacs downed the previously unbeaten Runnin’ Bulldogs 4-0 at Spry.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The No. 20 ranked Wake Forest (3-1-2, 0-1-0 ACC) men's soccer team recorded its second clean sheet of the 2023 season, downing Gardner Webb (2-1-1, 0-0-0 Big South) 4-0 on Tuesday evening at Spry Stadium.
Following an 85-minute delay due to inclement weather, the Demon Deacons took an early lead, as Jahlane Forbes found the back of the net for the second time in his senior campaign in the 14th minute. The Clermont, Fla., native was on the receiving end of an impressive buildup that was capped with Hosei Kijima lining up a pass to Cooper Flax who then flicked it to Mitchell before the ball found Forbes.
A little more than two minutes out of the halftime break, Mitchell recorded his fifth goal of the season as a field-long Demon Deacon possession extended the Wake Forest lead to 2-0 before goals in the last 10 minutes from Leo Guarino and Jake Swallen resulted in a 4-0 victory.
Trace Alphin recorded two saves on the night, both coming in the first half including a one-on-one stop on Gardner-Webb's Santiago Hoyos just outside of the six-yard box. Devin Armstrong, who made his collegiate debut in the 86th minute, joined Alpin for the combined shutout.
Wake Forest will now turn its attention back to ACC play with Saturday's first home conference match of the season, hosting reigning National Champions Syracuse at Spry Stadium. Entering Saturday's contest, the Orange are currently riding a 19-match unbeaten streak.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will air on ACC Network Extra.
Winning Ways At Spry
Over the last nine seasons, Wake Forest has registered 97 home victories – most in the country by 20 victories.
Home Wins Since The Start Of The 2015 season
1. Wake Forest (97 home victories)
2. Indiana (77 home victories)
3. Kentucky (75 home victories)
4. Clemson (73 home victories)
5. Georgetown (71 home victories)
5. Virginia (71 home victories)
Starting with a 4-0 victory over William & Mary on Oct. 5, 2021, the Demon Deacons are undefeated in their last 14 matches against non-conference opponents in the regular season with a record of 13-0-1. During that span, Wake Forest has outscored those 14 opponents by a plus-40 margin.
So far this season, Wake Forest is 3-0-1 at home:
"First of all, hats off to Gardner-Webb. I think they're going to win a lot of games. It took a good performance from the Deacs today to break them down to score goals and to defend them. I think they're a very good team. But hats off to our guys as well. We had another hour and 25-minute delay after a long day of class. They found internal energy to try to get the result – and not just the result – but a really imposing performance. Gardner-Webb caused some challenges. I thought we did a good job and made some adjustments at halftime with the press and we turned them over. But the consistent presses is what I'm proud of and the way we turned them over and the freshness of all the guys that came in. The young guys gave us really good minutes. And then what can I say about Jake, he gave about 24 minutes and got a goal for the first time since being away from the field for over a year and a half. So overall, a great team performance."
Up Next
Wake Forest will face Syracuse in a key early season ACC battle at Spry Stadium. It will mark the first home ACC match of the season and the second of eight regular season conference contests.
Kick-off will be at 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Following an 85-minute delay due to inclement weather, the Demon Deacons took an early lead, as Jahlane Forbes found the back of the net for the second time in his senior campaign in the 14th minute. The Clermont, Fla., native was on the receiving end of an impressive buildup that was capped with Hosei Kijima lining up a pass to Cooper Flax who then flicked it to Mitchell before the ball found Forbes.
A little more than two minutes out of the halftime break, Mitchell recorded his fifth goal of the season as a field-long Demon Deacon possession extended the Wake Forest lead to 2-0 before goals in the last 10 minutes from Leo Guarino and Jake Swallen resulted in a 4-0 victory.
Trace Alphin recorded two saves on the night, both coming in the first half including a one-on-one stop on Gardner-Webb's Santiago Hoyos just outside of the six-yard box. Devin Armstrong, who made his collegiate debut in the 86th minute, joined Alpin for the combined shutout.
Wake Forest will now turn its attention back to ACC play with Saturday's first home conference match of the season, hosting reigning National Champions Syracuse at Spry Stadium. Entering Saturday's contest, the Orange are currently riding a 19-match unbeaten streak.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will air on ACC Network Extra.
Winning Ways At Spry
Over the last nine seasons, Wake Forest has registered 97 home victories – most in the country by 20 victories.
Home Wins Since The Start Of The 2015 season
1. Wake Forest (97 home victories)
2. Indiana (77 home victories)
3. Kentucky (75 home victories)
4. Clemson (73 home victories)
5. Georgetown (71 home victories)
5. Virginia (71 home victories)
Starting with a 4-0 victory over William & Mary on Oct. 5, 2021, the Demon Deacons are undefeated in their last 14 matches against non-conference opponents in the regular season with a record of 13-0-1. During that span, Wake Forest has outscored those 14 opponents by a plus-40 margin.
So far this season, Wake Forest is 3-0-1 at home:
- Wake Forest 3, Grand Canyon 1 (Aug. 24)
- Wake Forest 1, Cal 1 (Aug. 27)
- Wake Forest 5, Furman 1 (Sept. 4)
- Wake Forest 4, Gardner-Webb 0 (Sept. 12)
- Wake Forest took an early 1-0 lead on the team's first shot of the evening, as Jahlane Forbes collected his second goal of the year in the 14th minute.
- On the receiving end of a strong buildup of possession, Hosei Kijima would find Cooper Flax who flicked it to Roald Mitchell before the ball found Forbes.
- It marked the fifth career goal for Forbes.
- Trace Alphin made a spectacular save on the Runnin' Bulldogs' first attempt of the night, diving to his right side to prevent a quick equalizer.
- In the 27th-minute, Mitchell was taken down in the box but his penalty kick attempt was saved.
- Cooper Flax let off a powerful attempt in the 33rd minute, but his shot went left of the frame.
- Alphin stood tall with a second huge save of the first half, stopping Santiago Hoyos right in front of the Wake Forest goal.
- Leo Guarino collected a pass at the top of the 18 in the final minute of the first half, but his shot was saved before Wake Forest went into the halftime break up 1-0.
- In the 48th minute, Wake Forest gained possession of the ball inside its own half before a connection between Oscar Sears, Colin Thomas and Mitchell resulted in the fifth goal of the season for Mitchell.
- Wake Forest added two goals in the final six minutes of action, first from Leo Guarino in the 84th minute before Jake Swallen hit on an 87th-minute penalty kick.
- In total, 26 Demon Deacons logged minutes in the victory.
- With his five goals so far in 2023, Mitchell now has 17 career goals tying him with Serge Daniv and Wake Forest Sports Hall of Famer Sam Cronin for the 25th-most goals in program history.
- Garrison Tubbs made his 60th career appearance.
- With the victory, Wake Forest is now 4-0-0 all-time against Gardner-Webb with the previous wins over the Runnin' Bulldogs coming between the 2001-03 seasons.
"First of all, hats off to Gardner-Webb. I think they're going to win a lot of games. It took a good performance from the Deacs today to break them down to score goals and to defend them. I think they're a very good team. But hats off to our guys as well. We had another hour and 25-minute delay after a long day of class. They found internal energy to try to get the result – and not just the result – but a really imposing performance. Gardner-Webb caused some challenges. I thought we did a good job and made some adjustments at halftime with the press and we turned them over. But the consistent presses is what I'm proud of and the way we turned them over and the freshness of all the guys that came in. The young guys gave us really good minutes. And then what can I say about Jake, he gave about 24 minutes and got a goal for the first time since being away from the field for over a year and a half. So overall, a great team performance."
Up Next
Wake Forest will face Syracuse in a key early season ACC battle at Spry Stadium. It will mark the first home ACC match of the season and the second of eight regular season conference contests.
Kick-off will be at 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Team Stats
GWU
WFU
Goals
0
4
Shots
6
13
Shots on Goal
2
7
Saves
3
2
Corners
3
2
Fouls
15
11
Scoring Plays
Jahlane Forbes (2)
Assisted By: Roald Mitchell , Cooper Flax
GOAL by WFU Forbes, Jahlane Assist by Mitchell, Roald and Flax, Cooper.
13:47
Roald Mitchell (5)
Assisted By: Colin Thomas , Oscar Sears
GOAL by WFU Mitchell, Roald Assist by Thomas, Colin and Sears, Oscar.
47:17
Leo Guarino (2)
Assisted By: Jahlane Forbes , Vlad Walent
GOAL by WFU Guarino, Leo Assist by Forbes, Jahlane and Walent, Vlad.
83:54
Jake Swallen
WFU Jake Swallen PENALTY KICK GOAL.
86:47
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
1
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
1
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Goalkeeper
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Goalkeeper
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Midfielder
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Midfielder
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/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's SoccerMidfielder
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Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
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