Wake Forest, No. 16 Duke Meet in Big Four Showdown

DURHAM, N.C. – Wake Forest men's soccer will renew a Big Four series with No. 16 Duke on Saturday evening at Koskinen Stadium.

The matchup will mark Wake Forest's fourth ranked foe of the 2024 season, as the Deacs' schedule has already featured seven programs who have been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches poll this year.

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

The Matchup

Wake Forest and Duke will meet for the first time since the 2022 season on Saturday night at Koskinen Stadium.
The Demon Deacons enter the match with a 5-3-4 record following a Tuesday night 0-0 draw with Wofford while Duke 5-2-3 following a 2-1 victory over Elon.
The match will mark Wake Forest's fifth ACC contest this season, as the Deacs have scored victories over Syracuse and Boston College along with drawing Virginia. Duke, meanwhile, has notched conference victories over Virginia and NC State while drawing with then-No. 1 Stanford and then-No. 16 SMU.
This will be the first of two Big Four matchups for Wake Forest down the final stretch of the regular season, as the Demon Deacons are a combined 18-4-3 against Duke, NC State and North Carolina since 2015.

Last Time Out

Wake Forest earned its third-straight clean sheet on Tuesday night in a 0-0 draw with Wofford in non-conference action.
Early in the second half, Wake Forest was on the attack and pinned back the Terriers with nine shots in the first 15 minutes out of the break. However, the Deacs were unable to break down Wofford's backline enough to score a game-winning goal.
Wake Forest outshout Wofford 18-12 with each side getting three shots on goal.
Senior goalkeeper Trace Alphin registered a three-save performance as Wake Forest earned its fourth clean sheet in its last eight matches.
It marked the first 0-0 result for Wake Forest since an identical scoreline against Maryland on Sept. 1, 2023.

Veterans Between The Posts

Saturday's match will feature two of college soccer's standout goalkeepers in Wake Forest's Trace Alphin and Duke's Wessel Speel.
Speel (7,716 minutes and 85 appearances) and Alphin (5,938 minutes and 67 appearances) rank Nos. 1-2 nationally in minutes and career appearances amongst active goalkeepers.
Now in his fourth season with the Demon Deacons, Alphin in 2024 has recorded 32 saves with a career-high 72.7 saver percentage with four shutouts.
Speel, who grad transferred to Duke for this season, has tallied 22 saves with a 59.5 save percentages and one shutout.
Alphin and Speel were the two ACC representatives on the United Soccer Coaches' Goalkeepers to Watch preseason list.

Scouting the Blue Devils

Duke enters Saturday's ACC showdown riding a four-match unbeaten streak with victories over Elon and NC State along with ranked draws against then-No. 1 Stanford and then-No. 16 SMU.
The Blue Devils lead the country in goals per game with more than three per showing.
Five players have multiple goals so far on the campaign, led by Adam Luckhurt's nine goals followed by Ulfur Bjornsson's eight goals.
Wake Forest and Duke will meet for the 51st time overall and 25th time in Durham.
The Deacs trail in the all-time series 17-25-8 but are 3-2-0 against the Blue Devils under 10th-year head coach Bobby Muuss.
Saturday's match marks Wake Forest's first regular season appearance at Koskinen Stadium since Oct. 23, 2020 when a late Omar Hernandez free kick goal helped lead the Deacs to a 2-1 victory.

Looking Ahead

Wake Forest will conclude non-conference action on Tuesday night, facing UNCW in Wilmington.
Kick-off for the contest is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will air on FloSports.

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