Demon Deacons to Host Ohio State in High-Powered Round of 16 Clash

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Out-scoring opponents 7-to-1 over the first two rounds, the No. 2-seeded Wake Forest women's soccer team will now welcome three-seed Ohio State in the third round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament at Spry Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 24.

The match is slated for 2:00 p.m. and will be shown live on ESPN+. Live stats will be available here.

Tickets are starting at $5 for the hill, $10 for general admission and $15 for reserved chair back.

NCAA Tournament - Round of 16
(3) Ohio State (14-5-3) at (2) Wake Forest (13-3-3)
Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024 - 2:00 PM - ESPN+
Winston-Salem, N.C. – Spry Stadium

Deacs in the NCAA Tournament

Wake Forest will be making its sixth all-time appearance in the round of 16 and first since 2018.
- The Deacs hold a 2-2-1 record in the round of 16, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2009 and 2011.
Friday marked the Deacs' 16th all-time appearance in the Round of 32 and second in the last four seasons (2021).
Wake Forest is in the midst of its 23rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with 22 of them coming under the helm of Tony da Luz.
- The Demon Deacons have made three of the last four tournaments, just missing out last year with a record of 10-3-5 and a sixth-place ACC finish.
- The Deacs' best-ever finish came in 2011 when they made the first College Cup in program history with the likes of Katie Stengel leading the line and Aubrey Bledsoe in goal.
Wake Forest now holds an overall record of 24-21-1 in the tournament, including a 16-2-1 mark in Winston-Salem.

Historic Regular Season

Five members of the Wake Forest women's soccer team were selected for 2024 All-ACC honors, headlined by a First-Team selection for junior forward Caiya Hanks.
- A senior trio of midfielder Emily Colton, forward Emily Murphy and defender Zara Chavoshi tabbed second-team nods, while redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Valentina Amaral earned third-team honors.
- Five players earning All-ACC nods is the most in program history. Additionally, Hanks became the 10th Wake Forest player to be tabbed All-ACC First Team and first since Aubrey Bledsoe in 2013.
The Demon Deacons are currently ranked No. 3 in United Soccer Coaches Poll. This season, they were ranked as high as No. 2, the highest ranking in program history.
- Additionally, Wake Forest sits seventh in RPI and third in the TopDrawerSoccer poll.
On Sept. 19, the Demon Deacons claimed their first-ever win over a No. 1 team as they took down Stanford, 1-0.
- The Deacs became the first team in NCAA history to take down a No. 1-ranked team and a No. 2-ranked team in back-to-back matches after downing No. 2 Virginia in Charlottesville on Sept. 15.
Wake Forest finished with 22 points in ACC play as it finished second in the ACC, tied for the best finish in program history.
- 22 points and seven total wins in conference play is the most in program history.
This season, Wake Forest had three players selected as an ACC Offensive Players of the Week with Caiya Hanks, Emily Colton and Emily Murphy all garnering the honors over the last two months.
- The Deacs also placed three on the TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 list with Emily Colton (#2), Emily Morris (#45) and Zara Chavoshi (#64).
The Deacs currently have three top-10 wins this season, the most for the Deacs since 2012.
This week, Wake Forest placed six on the CSC Academic All-Region Team (Hanks, Ansbrow, Colton, Murphy, Chavoshi, Morris).
In addition to posting the best goals-against average in the conference, the Wake Forest defense only conceded seven goals during ACC play, the fewest in the conference as well as the second-most clean sheets with five.
11 goals allowed in the regular season is the fewest in program history, beating last season's record by three goals.

The Flyin' Hawaiian

With two goals and three assists so far in the NCAA tournament, star forward Caiya Hanks currently ranks inside the top 10 in program history in points (30), goals (10) and assists (10) for a single season.
With her assist in the second round, she became just the sixth player at the D1 level this season to reach 10 goals and 10 assists, and third to do so in program history, joining Anne Shropshire (1998) and Kaley Fountain (2009).
Her 30 points this year is also the most for the Deacs since 2011 and her 10 assists are the most since 2009.
Heading into the weekend, Hanks ranked sixth in the ACC in total points, seventh in goals, and eighth in assists.
- Additionally, her 18 points in conference play ranked second in the ACC and her seven goals were tied for the most.
Hanks has also added four game-winning goals this season, which ranks third in the conference.

The Emily Trifecta

Following her opening goal against Colorado, senior midfielder Emily Colton has recorded at least one goal contribution in 11 of her last 15 appearances for the Demon Deacons and is second on the team with 21 total points.
- In the tournament opener, she recorded the first multi-assist game of her career.
- She now has seven goals on the year which ties a career high she set her freshman campaign.
- Additionally, her seven assists this season also set a career high.
- She had a goal contribution in seven of Wake Forest's 10 ACC matches.
- Colton was ranked as the No. 2 player in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer earlier this season.
Continuing her incredible 10-game stretch, scoring six times and notching five assists during that span, senior forward Emily Murphy logged an assist on the opening goal on Friday and sealed the game with a counter-attack goal in the 88th minute.
- It marked her fourth game with multiple goal contributions in her last eight outings.
- She is second on the team with a career-high eight assists this season and ranks third in the squad with 20 total points.
- Additionally, she has 22 goals and 20 assists for her collegiate career, putting her at 64 points.
- Friday marked her 75th collegiate appearance and 50th start.
Emily Morris has been a crucial part of Wake Forest's success this season, playing in a versatile role throughout the season. She scored her third goal of the season and second in the last three games with a phenomenal strike from distance against Colorado.
- She now has nine goals for her career in addition to seven assists for 25 points.
- Of note, she is one of four players to have started and played every match so far this year.
- Morris was named to the ACC All-Tournament team following her equalizer against Florida State in the semifinals.

Brick Wall Amaral

While the Wake Forest backline has been exceptional this season, the defensive success of the Deacs can also be accredited to the work between the sticks.
Her .690 goals-against average this season is the best in the ACC and currently ranks as the lowest in program history.
- Additionally, her five clean sheets in conference play ranked as the second-most in the ACC.
In her first full season, Amaral started all 10 ACC matches and only allowed seven goals, the fewest in the conference.
Amaral is 10-2-2 in matches she has started for her career.
She came up with a huge penalty save in the victory over No. 6 Florida State and logged a career-high four saves in the historic 1-0 win against No. 1 Stanford.

Fast Starters

The Demon Deacons have wasted no time getting on the board this season, scoring eight goals within the first 20 minutes so far this campaign and six within the first 10.
- Nikayla Small - :59 vs. NC State (10/31/24)
- Anna Swanson - 1:47 vs. Morehead State (11/15/24)
- Abbie Colton - 2:00 vs. Mississippi State (8/25/24)
- Emily Murphy - 2:17 vs. Syracuse (9/29/24)
- Emily Colton - 5:10 vs. Colorado (11/22/24)
- Emily Murphy - 9:05 vs. California (9/22/24)
- Caiya Hanks - 12:26 vs. Morehead State (11/15/24)
- Caiya Hanks - 16:30 vs. Virginia (9/15/24)
Nikayla Small's opener against NC State was the fourth-fastest goal in program history at 59 seconds and was the fastest for the Deacs since 2006.

Last Time Out

For the first time since 2018, the No. 2-seeded Wake Forest women's soccer team has advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament following a 3-1 victory over Colorado Friday night at Spry Stadium.
The Demon Deacons opened the scoring in the sixth minute, as great ball movement led to a clear shot at goal for senior midfielder Emily Colton, who finished with ease for her seventh goal of the season. Senior forward Emily Murphy and junior forward Caiya Hanks logged assists on the strike.
After holding Colorado to just one shot in the first half, Wake Forest doubled its advantage in the 61st minute, courtesy of a phenomenal goal from distance by senior midfielder Emily Morris. It marked her third goal of the season and second in the last three games.
The Buffaloes got a goal back in the 74th minute, but Murphy put the game away with two minutes left after a long run on a counter attack resulted in her sixth goal of the season. It marked Murphy's fourth game with multiple goal contributions this season, all coming in the last eight matches.
Senior defenders Laurel Ansbrow, Zara Chavoshi and Kristin Johnson all went the full 90 and helped limit the visitors to just five shots on goal. Redshirt freshman Valentina Amaral stopped four shots and improved to 10-2-2 in starts for her career.
Overall, the Demon Deacons out-shot the Buffaloes 21-to-11 and held 59 percent of the ball. Hanks and Morris led the team with four attempts apiece.

Spry is a Fortress

Spry has almost guaranteed results for the Demon Deacons over the last three seasons, as Wake Forest has posted a stellar 18-3-6 record at home since the start of 2022.
Before the loss to Duke, the Demon Deacons held the program record for longest home unbeaten streak at 15 matches.
- During the 15-game run, eight resulted in a clean sheet for the Deacs as they outscored opponents 35-8.
- It marked the second-longest active home unbeaten run in the ACC, behind only Florida State's 25.

Scouting the Buckeyes

Ohio State finished eighth in the Big Ten with a 6-3-2 conference record and head into Sunday's match holding a 14-5-3 overall mark.
In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Buckeys breezed past James Madison at home with a 4-1 victory, taking the lead in the first minute and holding it the rest of the way.
On Friday at Spry Stadium, Ohio State defeated Auburn 2-1 with two first-half strikes from leading goal scorers Kailyn Dudukovich and Amanda Schlueter.
Dudukovich is tied for the most goals in the nation at 19 and has scored in four of her last five matches.
- The senior has logged three braces and a hat trick this season.
Schlueter joins Wake Forest's Caiya Hanks as one of the six players in the nation with 10 goals and 10 assists this season, scoring her 10th goal and recording her 12th assist in the win over Auburn.
In goal for Ohio State is Molly Pritchard, who ranks second in the Big Ten with 86 saves this season.
- She holds a .86 goals-against average and .83 save percentage on the year, recording four solo clean sheets.

Series History vs. Ohio State

Wake Forest is 2-0 all-time against Ohio State dating back to the first match in 2000.
The last time the two schools faced off was in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament at Spry Stadium, where the Demon Deacons advanced thanks to a 100th-minute golden goal winner from Giovanna DeMarco.
The first meeting was also an extra time victory for the Deacs, defeating the Buckeyes 2-1 on Sept. 1, 2000 in a neutral-site match in Missouri.

Accessibility Information
Wake Forest Athletics strives to provide content at games, social media and on GoDeacs.com that is accessible to all people. In the continued effort to improve accessibility of the technology and digital content at tomorrow's game, fans can access closed captions here for the public address announcer and in-venue content.

Up Next
The winner of the match will take on the winner of No. 1 seed USC and No. 5 seed Wisconsin. If USC wins, either Ohio State or Wake Forest will travel to California for the quarterfinals. If the Badgers upset the hosts on Sunday, they will travel to Ohio State/Wake Forest.

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Demon Deacons to Host Ohio State in High-Powered Round of 16 Clash

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Laurel Ansbrow

Zara Chavoshi

Abbie Colton

Emily Colton

Giovanna DeMarco

Caiya Hanks

Kristin Johnson

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Nikayla Small

Anna Swanson

Wake Forest Athletics

Demon Deacons to Host Ohio State in High-Powered Round of 16 Clash

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Laurel Ansbrow

Zara Chavoshi

Abbie Colton

Emily Colton

Giovanna DeMarco

Caiya Hanks

Kristin Johnson

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Nikayla Small

Anna Swanson

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