Friday, November 1
Winston-Salem, N.C.
7 p.m.
Wake Forest University
8-4-5, 4-2-2
1
vs
0
NC State
8-3-5, 3-3-2
1
2
F
NC State
0
0
0
Wake Forest
0
1
1
Wake Forest Scores Ranked Big Four Victory, Defeating No. 12 NC State 1-0
11/1/2024 10:02:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Junior Basit Umar’s 75th minute goal was the difference as the Demon Deacons honored 10 seniors and graduates Friday night at Spry Stadium.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Junior Basit Umar's 75th-minute goal proved to be the difference in a Big Four showdown on Friday evening, as the Wake Forest men's soccer team (8-4-5, 4-2-2 ACC) defeated No. 12 NC State (8-3-5, 3-3-2 ACC) 1-0.
The two sides each pushed for a goal in the key ACC match for tournament seeding, with the Demon Deacons getting the breakthrough with 15 minutes remaining as Umar struck for the third time this season on a ball rebounded from an attempt from senior Julian Kennedy.
Defensively, the Demon Deacons held strong as they weathered 18 NC State shot attempts including five on goal – all of which were saved by senior goalkeeper Trace Alphin. It marked the sixth clean sheet this season for Wake Forest and the third against an ACC opponent.
Wake Forest will now turn its attention to the ACC Tournament, hosting a first round match on Wednesday evening at Spry.
Thank You, Seniors & Graduates!
Prior to the start of Friday night's Big Four clash, the men's soccer program honored the contributions of 10 seniors and graduates dating back to the 2020 season.
Over the last five years, the group of Trace Alphin, Bo Cummins, Babacar Niang, Ryan Fessler, Julian Kennedy, Nicolas Mancilla, Sidney Paris, Cristian Escribano, Colin Thomas and Prince Amponsah have helped the Demon Deacons to 59 victories, including four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2023 ACC Atlantic Division title while extending nationally-best marks for total wins, home wins and ACC regular season wins for the program over the last decade.
The 59 victories over the last five seasons is tied for the fifth-most nationally.
ACC Win No. 56 Since '16
With victories over No. 12 NC State, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Syracuse, Wake Forest has now won an ACC-best 56 regular season matches since the start of the 2015 season.
During that span, the Deacs' 56 wins are 10 more than any ACC program.
Deacs Against The Big Four
With Friday's result at Spry, the Demon Deacons are now a combined 19-4-4 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 10-4-2.
Additionally in those 26 matches total, Wake Forest has earned a +29 goal differential.
Stout At Spry
Including Friday evening's result against No. 12 NC State, Wake Forest holds the longest active home unbeaten streak against ACC opponents in regular season play at 10 matches
Additionally, Wake Forest was the only conference program to not suffer a home loss in conference action this season.
Dating back to a 3-1 victory over Boston College on Oct. 15, 2022, Wake Forest is 7-0-3 and has outscored opponents +11:
Alphin Moves To No. 2 In Career Goalkeeper Minutes
A mainstay in between the posts since his freshman season in 2021, senior Trace Alphin on Friday night moved into second in program history for minutes by a goalkeeper at 6,379 trailing only 2007 National Champion Brian Edwards.
Entering the postseason of his senior campaign, Alphin ranks 10th in career saves (172) and seventh in goals against average (1.06).
Wake Forest Goalkeeper Career Minute Leaders
How It Happened
Demon Deacon Details of Note
From Coach Muuss
"It was a great win. It was an emotional win in a lot of ways. Obviously, we're down a lot of bodies and these guys just continue to fight and grind. They worked hard this week. I thought they implemented the gameplan that we implemented and they actually followed it for a full 90 minutes, which was rewarding to see as a coaching staff. We found a way to win. It definitely helps to win games when you have the best goalkeeper in the country in my opinion in Trace Alphin. We needed him early in the game, but man, every one of the guys stepped up and did the little things to get us a win tonight."
Up Next
Wake Forest will turn its attention to the ACC Tournament, which begins Wednesday evening with seven first round matches on the campuses of seed Nos. 2-8.
The two sides each pushed for a goal in the key ACC match for tournament seeding, with the Demon Deacons getting the breakthrough with 15 minutes remaining as Umar struck for the third time this season on a ball rebounded from an attempt from senior Julian Kennedy.
Defensively, the Demon Deacons held strong as they weathered 18 NC State shot attempts including five on goal – all of which were saved by senior goalkeeper Trace Alphin. It marked the sixth clean sheet this season for Wake Forest and the third against an ACC opponent.
Wake Forest will now turn its attention to the ACC Tournament, hosting a first round match on Wednesday evening at Spry.
Thank You, Seniors & Graduates!
Prior to the start of Friday night's Big Four clash, the men's soccer program honored the contributions of 10 seniors and graduates dating back to the 2020 season.
Over the last five years, the group of Trace Alphin, Bo Cummins, Babacar Niang, Ryan Fessler, Julian Kennedy, Nicolas Mancilla, Sidney Paris, Cristian Escribano, Colin Thomas and Prince Amponsah have helped the Demon Deacons to 59 victories, including four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2023 ACC Atlantic Division title while extending nationally-best marks for total wins, home wins and ACC regular season wins for the program over the last decade.
The 59 victories over the last five seasons is tied for the fifth-most nationally.
ACC Win No. 56 Since '16
With victories over No. 12 NC State, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Syracuse, Wake Forest has now won an ACC-best 56 regular season matches since the start of the 2015 season.
During that span, the Deacs' 56 wins are 10 more than any ACC program.
| School | ACC Regular Season Wins Since '15 |
|
56 |
|
46 |
|
45 |
|
38 |
|
38 |
Deacs Against The Big Four
With Friday's result at Spry, the Demon Deacons are now a combined 19-4-4 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 10-4-2.
Additionally in those 26 matches total, Wake Forest has earned a +29 goal differential.
| Opponent | Record | Winning Percentage | Goal Differential |
| NC State | 10-0-3 | 88.4% | +22 |
| North Carolina | 6-2-0 | 75% | +4 |
| Duke | 3-2-1 | 58.3% | +3 |
Stout At Spry
Including Friday evening's result against No. 12 NC State, Wake Forest holds the longest active home unbeaten streak against ACC opponents in regular season play at 10 matches
Additionally, Wake Forest was the only conference program to not suffer a home loss in conference action this season.
Dating back to a 3-1 victory over Boston College on Oct. 15, 2022, Wake Forest is 7-0-3 and has outscored opponents +11:
- Wake Forest 1, No. 12 NC State 0 (Nov. 1, 2024)
- Wake Forest 2, Virginia Tech 1 (Oct. 19, 2024)
- Wake Forest 2, Boston College 0 (Oct. 5, 2024)
- Wake Forest 1, Virginia 1 (Sept. 13, 2024)
- Wake Forest 1, No. 6 Notre Dame 1 (Oct. 20, 2023)
- Wake Forest 1, No. 14 North Carolina 0 (Oct. 14, 2023)
- Wake Forest 1, Clemson 0 (Sept. 22, 2023)
- Wake Forest 1, No. 7 Syracuse 1 (Sept. 16, 2023)
- Wake Forest 3, No. 9 Louisville 0 (Oct. 28, 2022)
- Wake Forest 3, Boston College 1 (Oct. 15, 2022)
Alphin Moves To No. 2 In Career Goalkeeper Minutes
A mainstay in between the posts since his freshman season in 2021, senior Trace Alphin on Friday night moved into second in program history for minutes by a goalkeeper at 6,379 trailing only 2007 National Champion Brian Edwards.
Entering the postseason of his senior campaign, Alphin ranks 10th in career saves (172) and seventh in goals against average (1.06).
Wake Forest Goalkeeper Career Minute Leaders
|
8,611 minutes |
|
6,379 minutes |
|
6,296 minutes |
|
5,876 minutes |
|
5,479 minutes |
|
5,415 minutes |
How It Happened
- Trace Alphin was called into action in the ninth minute, pushing away a deep NC State attempt from outside the 18.
- Freshman Dylan Borso applied pressure on the Wolfpack goal, registering a pair of shots in the opening minutes both of which were saved.
- After freshman Pariss Mitchell was taken down inside the box, the Demon Deacons earned a free kick in a dangerous spot with less than 17 minutes remaining in the opening half that was saved.
- Alphin once again stonewalled the Wolfpack on a free kick, as NC State got a second opportunity at the top of the box that was saved by the senior's fingertips.
- Junior Cooper Flax – who was serving as a team captain tonight – nearly got the Deacs on the board first in the 33rd minute, but an attempt from the top of the 18 went wide.
- Sophomore Jeffrey White logged the fifth Demon Deacon shot of the first half in the 41st minute that was stopped by a diving effort.
- The two sides went into the halftime break tied 0-0 with each team having three corners and NC State holding a 7-5 advantage in shots.
- Flax registered the first shot of the second half by either team in the 53rd minute, receiving a ball from redshirt sophomore Nico Rabiu that went wide.
- The Demon Deacons made five changes at the 59-minute mark, looking to break open the scoreless contest.
- Alphin made an acrobatic effort to keep the Wolfpack out of the score column in the 69th minute before Borso got a prime opportunity one minute later that was stopped by NC State's keeper.
- Perez came close to an opener with his free kick from distance forcing the NC State keeper into a tough save and won Wake Forest a corner.
- In the 75th minute, Umar fired the Deacs in front after his low-driven shot found its way through traffic in the box for his third strike of the season.
- Three minutes later, Alphin came up with a huge save following an NC State free kick to keep the match scoreless.
- NC State had five shots in the closing minutes, but an excellent team defensive effort secured a sixth clean sheet this season.
Demon Deacon Details of Note
- Senior Trace Alphin earned his 71st career start, 29th-most in program history.
- Graduate Colin Thomas earned his 40th career start.
- Senior Bo Cummins earns his 25th career start.
- Freshman Daniel Krueger earned his 15th career start.
- With the victory, Wake Forest now leads the all-time series against NC State at 34-11-7.
- The Demon Deacons are 19-4-2 all-time against the Wolfpack in matches played in Winston-Salem.
- Marks the seventh time Wake has defeated a ranked NC State squad and the third time over the last seven seasons.
From Coach Muuss
"It was a great win. It was an emotional win in a lot of ways. Obviously, we're down a lot of bodies and these guys just continue to fight and grind. They worked hard this week. I thought they implemented the gameplan that we implemented and they actually followed it for a full 90 minutes, which was rewarding to see as a coaching staff. We found a way to win. It definitely helps to win games when you have the best goalkeeper in the country in my opinion in Trace Alphin. We needed him early in the game, but man, every one of the guys stepped up and did the little things to get us a win tonight."
Up Next
Wake Forest will turn its attention to the ACC Tournament, which begins Wednesday evening with seven first round matches on the campuses of seed Nos. 2-8.
Team Stats
NCS
WFU
Goals
0
1
Shots
18
12
Shots on Goal
5
6
Saves
5
5
Corners
10
4
Fouls
17
9
Scoring Plays
Basit Umar (3)
GOAL by WFU Umar, Basit.
74:35
Game Leaders
Players
mid
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
mid
Shots
3
SOG
3
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
Goalkeeper
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
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Defender
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Defender
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Midfielder
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Midfielder
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Forward
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Defender
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Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
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Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's SoccerMidfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
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