No. 2 Wake Forest Set for Final Road Test at Pitt

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Following a hard fought victory at SMU over the weekend, the Wake Forest women's soccer team will close out its 2024 road slate as it takes on Pitt this Thursday, Oct. 24 at Ambrose Urbanic Field in Pittsburgh, Penn.

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

Need to Know - Game 15
No. 2 Wake Forest (10-2-2, 5-1-1 ACC) at Pitt (9-4-3, 3-3-2 ACC)
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 - 7 PM - ACC Network Extra
Pittsburgh, Penn. – Ambrose Urbanic Field

Notables

The Demon Deacons are currently ranked No. 2 in United Soccer Coaches Poll, the highest ranking in program history.
- Additionally, Wake Forest sits fourth in the RPI and second in the TopDrawerSoccer poll.
- Wake Forest now has 16 points in ACC action, putting them in third with three games left to play.
Hanks continued her great junior campaign with a goal and an assist in her last outing, her fourth game of the season with multiple goal contributions.
- She now has a team-best seven goals and 20 total points, including a goal in each of the last three matches.
- She is the first Demon Deacon to reach 20 points in a season since 2021 and is five points away from cracking the top 10 in program history.
With her strike in the 47th minute against SMU, Emily Colton has now recorded at least one goal contribution in seven of her last nine appearances for the Demon Deacons and is now tied for the team lead with six goals.
- Additionally, her 15 total points rank second on the team behind Hanks (20).
- She was recently ranked as the No. 2 player in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.
The Deacs enter the match ranked in the top five of the ACC in multiple categories, including goals-against average (.643), shots per game (18.86) and corners per game (6.71).
- Individually, Caiya Hanks ranks seventh in the ACC in total points (20), 10th in goals (7) and ninth in assists (6).
  - Emily Murphy is tied with Hanks in ninth with sixth assists.
In goal, Valentina Amaral is now 6-1-1 in games she's started, and has only allowed five goals over 855 minutes of action for a ridiculous .53 career goals-against average.
- This season, she ranks third in the conference in save percentage (.792) and goals-against average (.667).
The Demon Deacons now have three players with double-digit points and seven players with five or more so far in 2024.
- Caiya Hanks - 20 points (7 goals, 6 assists)
- Emily Colton - 15 points (6 goals, 3 assists)
- Emily Murphy - 10 points (2 goal, 6 assists)
- Sierra Sythe - 9 points (3 goals, 3 assists)
- Anna Swanson - 7 points (3 goals, 1 assist)
- Nikayla Small - 7 points (2 goals, 3 assists)
- Hannah Johnson - 5 points (2 goals, 1 assist)
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).
With six-consecutive games unbeaten, Wake Forest is on its longest ACC unbeaten stretch in program history.

Last Time Out

Behind a 78th-minute winner from junior forward Caiya Hanks, the No. 2-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team notched its third-consecutive win with a 2-1 result at SMU Saturday night at Washburne Stadium.
The Demon Deacons opened the scoring right out of the halftime break, as great team play set up senior midfielder Emily Colton in the box, who took a phenomenal touch to send a defender and fired it past the keeper for her sixth goal of the season. Hanks and senior Anna Swanson logged assists on the goal.
After the Mustangs equalized in the 56th minute, Wake Forest took the lead for good on Hanks' strike 22 minutes later. It marked the Hawaii-native's fourth game of the season with multiple goal contributions. She also now has a team-best seven goals and 20 total points, including a goal in each of the last three matches.
Eight of the 10 outfield players for the Demon Deacons went the full 90 minutes, including the backline of seniors Laurel Ansbrow, Zara Chavoshi, Kristin Johnson and redshirt freshman Sierra Sythe. Of note, Chavoshi was also ranked in TopDrawerSoccer's top 100, as well as senior midfielder Emily Morris.
In goal, Valentina Amaral improved to 6-1-1 in games she's started, and has only allowed five goals over 855 minutes of action for a ridiculous .53 career goals-against average.
As a team, Wake Forest outshot SMU 23-to-11 (8-to-3 on-goal) throughout the 90 minutes and controlled the contest. Hanks led the team with a career-high 10 shots.

Scouting the Panthers

Pitt enters the match with a 9-4-3 overall record and are 3-3-2 in ACC play.
- The Panthers have yet to defeat a top 25 this season and hold an 0-2-2 record against ranked opponents this campaign.
- They sit 32nd in RPI and eighth in the ACC standings.
The Panthers are led by senior forward Sarah Shupansky, who leads the nation with 15 assists on the year.
- Additionally, she has tallied six goals for 27 total points, which ranks second in the ACC and 14th nationally.
- 12 of her 15 assists came in a five game span, including a four-assist game against Dartmouth and three against LMU.
In goal, junior Ellie Breech has accounted for five clean sheets with a .96 goals-against average.
Pitt comes into Thursday following a 7-1 defeat to Florida State and a 0-0 draw with Miami.

Series History vs. Pitt

The Demon Deacons own a 5-2 all-time record against the Panthers, with both losses coming in Pittsburgh.
This will be the third-consecutive meeting between the schools at Pitt, with Wake Forest dropping last year's clash, 4-1 and winning 2-1 in 2021.
- The Deacs' 2021 victory over the Panthers saw two second half goals within a minute of each other by Hulda Arnarsdottir and Shayla Smart in the 51st and 52nd minutes, respectively.
- Emily Murphy notched the lone goal for the Deacs at Pitt last season with an assist from Emily Morris.

Up Next
Following the match, the Demon Deacons will return home for a massive Big Four clash against the No. 1-ranked Duke Blue Devils at Spry Stadium on Sunday night.

The match is slated for 6 p.m. and will be shown live on ACC Network Extra.

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Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Laurel Ansbrow

Zara Chavoshi

Emily Colton

Caiya Hanks

Hannah Johnson

Kristin Johnson

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Nikayla Small

Anna Swanson

Sierra Sythe

Wake Forest Athletics