No. 2 Wake Forest Set for Road Clash with SMU

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Returning to action for the first time in 16 days, the Wake Forest women's soccer team will hit the road to take on SMU this Saturday, Oct. 19 at Washburn Stadium in Dallas, Texas.

The match is slated for 8 p.m. eastern and will be shown live on ACC Network Extra with live stats available here.

Need to Know - Game 14
No. 2 Wake Forest (9-2-2, 4-1-1 ACC) at SMU (6-7-2, 2-4-2 ACC)
Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024 - 8 PM (ET) - ACC Network Extra
Dallas, Texas – Washburn Stadium

Quick Hitters

The Demon Deacons were recently ranked No. 2 in United Soccer Coaches Poll, the highest ranking in program history.
- Additionally, Wake Forest sits fifth in the RPI and second in the TopDrawerSoccer poll.
The Deacs enter the match ranked in the top five of the ACC in multiple categories, including goals-against average (.615), shots per game (18.54) and corners per game (6.85).
Individually, Caiya Hanks is ninth in the conference with six goals on the season, including three in the last two outings.
- Additionally, Emily Murphy sits sixth in the ACC with six assists with Hanks right behind her with five.
- Hanks is 10th in the conference with 17 total points.
In goal, Valentina Amaral is 5-1-1 throughout her young career in games she's started, and has only allowed four goals over 765 minutes of action for a ridiculous .47 career goals-against average.
Wake Forest enters the match with 13 points in ACC play, putting the Deacs in fifth with four games left to play.
The Demon Deacons now have three players with double-digit points and seven players with five or more so far in 2024.
- Caiya Hanks - 17 points (6 goals, 5 assists)
- Emily Colton - 13 points (5 goals, 3 assists)
- Emily Murphy - 10 points (2 goal, 6 assists)
- Sierra Sythe - 8 points (3 goals, 2 assists)
- Nikayla Small - 6 points (2 goals, 2 assists)
- Anna Swanson - 6 points (3 goals)
- Hannah Johnson - 5 points (2 goals, 1 assist)
Seven of Wake Forest's 13 games so far this season have come against teams currently ranked in the top 25 (including three of the top six) with current No. 1 Duke still to play.
- The Demon Deacons have picked up four ranked victories in 2024, the most in a season since 2018.
So far this season, Wake Forest has had three players selected as an ACC Offensive Players of the Week with Caiya Hanks, Emily Colton and Emily Murphy all gardening the honors over the last month.
The Deacs also placed three on the TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 list with Emily Colton (#2), Emily Morris (#45) and Zara Chavoshi (#64).

Last Time Out

In one of the most dominant performances of the 2024 campaign, the No. 4-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team took down reigning national champions and No. 6-ranked Florida State two weeks ago at Spry Stadium.
The Demon Deacons opened the scoring in the 25th minute with a counter-attack goal by senior Emily Murphy following a brilliant ball from fellow senior Nikayla Small.
Senior Emily Morris doubled the lead five minutes later with a beautiful curled shot into the top-right corner from the edge of the box. It was Morris' first goal of the season and seventh of her career, bringing her career points total to 20.
The Seminoles would get a goal back 15 seconds into the second half to cut the lead, but Deacs would regain their lead after junior Caiya Hanks tapped in a cross from Murphy in the 56th minute.
On her senior night, Small would add a fourth for Wake Forest nine minutes later as she rifled a shot into the top left corner while falling down in the 65th minute.
On the defensive side of the ball, sophomore goalkeeper Valentina Ameral came up with a penalty save in the 85th minute to keep the game at 4-1. She improved to 5-1-1 in games she's started, and has only allowed four goals over 765 minutes of action for a .47 career goals-against average.
With the win, the Demon Deacons broke the record for longest home unbeaten streak in program history at 15 matches. Spry Stadium has been a fortress for the Demon Deacons over the last three seasons, as Wake Forest has posted a stellar 16-2-6 record at home since the start of 2022.
The win also ended Florida State's nation-leading 32-match unbeaten streak. Additionally, Wake Forest now leads the all-time series with the Seminoles, 14-13-5 dating back to 1995. It was the first win for the Demon Deacons in the series since 2017.

Scouting the Mustangs

SMU has lost its last four matches heading into the weekend after a 2-0-2 start to its inaugural ACC campaign and currently sit 11th in the ACC standings on eight points.
- Wake Forest will be its sixth-consecutive ranked matchup with four of the six coming against top 10 opponents.
The Mustangs are 6-4-1 at home this campaign and hold a 24-8-4 record at Washburne Stadium since the start of the 2021 season.
They are led by junior forward Eliana Salama, who has a team-best seven goals and four assists for 18 total points. She bagged a brace in the win over Miami last month.
In goal, graduate goalkeeper Sierra Cota-Yarde ranks second in the conference with 67 total saves across 15 starts.

Series History vs. SMU

This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
It marks the first game inside Texas in program history and just the third time the Deacs have taken on a Texas school.
- In 2008, Wake Forest dropped a 2-1 match to Texas A&M in Blacksburg.
- Five years later, the Deacs hosted North Texas and picked up a 2-1 overtime victory.

Up Next
Following the match, the Demon Deacons will head to Pittsburgh for their final regular season road match of the campaign on Thursday, Oct. 24.

The match is slated for 7 p.m. and will be shown live on ACC Network Extra.

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Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Zara Chavoshi

Emily Colton

Caiya Hanks

Hannah Johnson

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Nikayla Small

Anna Swanson

Sierra Sythe

Wake Forest Athletics