Wake Forest Secures Point on the Road at No. 16 Duke

DURHAM, N.C. – Extending its run to 384 minutes of action without conceding, Wake Forest (5-3-4, 2-1-1 ACC) secured a point on the road against No. 16 Duke (2-1-2 ACC) as the Big Four foes battled to a 0-0 draw.

The two sides went into halftime 0-0, as Wake Forest earned the best opportunity in the opening 45 minutes when freshman Dylan Borso was taken down inside the 18. However, junior Cooper Flax's penalty kick attempt was stopped.

Both sides had opportunities in the second half, but senior goalkeeper Trace Alphin recorded three enormous saves over the final 45 minutes, including a diving stop in the 89th minute to secure the point.

Alphin finished with four total saves on the night and has now helped the Demon Deacons to four-consecutive clean sheets with 14 saves during that span.

Wake Forest will remain on the road for the team's final non-conference match on Tuesday evening, traveling to UNCW.

Kick-off for the match is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will air on FloSports.

Deacs Against The Big Four
With Saturday's result in Durham, the Demon Deacons are now a combined 18-4-4 against Duke, North Carolina and NC State under 10th-year head coach Bobby Muuss. Wake Forest's record against ranked Big Four opponents is also 9-4-2.

Additionally in those 26 matches, Wake Forest has earned a +28 goal differential.

Opponent	Record	Winning Percentage	Goal Differential
NC State	9-0-3	87.5%	+21
North Carolina	6-2-0	75%	+4
Duke	3-2-1	58.3%	+3

Sheet Kept Clean Once Again
For the fourth-straight match, the Demon Deacons recorded a clean sheet as Wake Forest has not conceded a goal in the last 384 minutes of action dating back to a 2-1 comeback victory over Syracuse on Sept. 27.

During this stretch, Wake Forest has gone 2-0-2 with wins against ETSU and Boston College and draws against No. 16 Duke and Wofford.

This marks the second-straight season Wake Forest has registered four shutouts in a row, doing so against Boston College (Sept. 29), NC State (Oct. 6), Wofford (Oct. 10) and North Carolina (Oct. 14) last year.

Additionally, this marks the first time this season Duke has not scored a goal and the first time they've been kept out of the scoring column since Oct. 21, 2023, a stretch of 15 matches. It was also the first time they did not score at home since a 2-0 loss to Clemson in the quarterfinals of the ACC Championship on Nov. 6, 2022.

How It Happened

Senior goalkeeper Trace Alphin made a fully extended effort to stop a second-minute attempt from Duke outside of the 18.
After settling in following early pressure from Duke, junior Basit Umar registered the Deacs' first shot of the match in the 19th minute.
Wake Forest created a beautiful connection in transition to find space within Duke's midfield before junior Cooper Flax had a 24th-minute shot blocked.
After entering the match in the 26th minute, freshman Dylan Borso quickly registered a shot that went wide of the frame.
Wake Forest earned a 32nd-minute penalty kick, but Flax' low-level attempt to the bottom left corner of the net was saved.
Sophomore Jose Perez tested Duke's keeper in the 41st minute, a powerful attempt from more than 20 yards out that was stopped.
The Demon Deacons collected four shots on goal in the opening frame to the Blue Devils' one, while Wake Forest staved off six Duke corner kicks.
Out of halftime, Duke had a quick flurry in front of the Wake Forest goal, but Alphin saved Duke' final effort in the series of events.
After freshman Ryan Belal was fouled just outside of the 18, Perez let of a free kick attempt that was headed away by Duke's wall.
Alphin came up with another tremendous effort in the 61st minute, stopping Duke's Kenan Hot on a shot within the box.
Thomas came close to giving Wake Forest the lead in the 77th minute after a clever one-two with Flax set him up for a great look at goal, but the keeper kept it out.
Alphin came up huge in the 89th minute with yet another stellar save to keep the clean sheet and secure a point for the Demon Deacons.
The match ended level at 0-0.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

Graduate Prince Amponsah earned his 74th career start, tying him with Jacori Hayes (2013-16), Andy Lubahn (2009-13), Anthony Arena (2009-13), Ihor Dotsenko (1994-97) and Kyle Bachmeier (1995-98) for the 22nd-most in program history.
Sophomore Jeffrey White earned his 10th career start in his 30th career appearance.
Junior Basit Umar made his 40th career appearance.
Wake Forest utilized the same Starting XI for the third-straight match.
Saturday's result marked the ninth draw all-time against the Blue Devils and the fifth in matches played in Durham.
Marked the first draw in the series since a 2-2 decision on Oct. 25, 2013.

From Coach Muuss
"I think it was an exciting college soccer game and either team could have won that game. I think we had some really good chances. Their goalkeeper obviously makes some big-time saves. Trace made some big-time saves and a big-time save at the end. I am disappointed, because we need three points, but happy with a clean sheet against a team that's averaging almost four goals a game. So the guys fought today. There was a spirit that any Deacon fan should be proud of tonight."

Up Next
Wake Forest will play its final non-conference regular season match of 2024 on Tuesday night, traveling across the state to face UNCW.

Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the match will air on FloSports.

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Team Stats

Dylan Borso

Jose Perez

Jeffrey White

Cooper Flax

Players Mentioned

Trace Alphin

Prince Amponsah

Ryan Belal

Dylan Borso

Cooper Flax

Jose Perez

Basit Umar

Jeffrey White

Wake Forest Athletics