No. 2-Seed Wake Forest Primed for ACC Semifinals

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Following its joint-best ACC regular-season finish in program history, the No. 2-seeded Wake Forest women's soccer team is set to take on No. 3-seed Florida State in the ACC Semifinals at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on Thursday, Nov. 7.

The match is slated for 5:30 p.m. and will be shown live on ACC Network with live stats available here. For those able to make the trip to Cary, tickets are available for purchase here.

ACC Tournament Semifinals
(3) Florida State (13-2-2) vs. (2) Wake Forest (12-3-2)
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 - 5:30 PM - ACC Network
Cary, N.C. – WakeMed Soccer Park

Deacs in the ACC Tournament

Wake Forest will be making its 11th appearance in the ACC semifinals and second in the last four years, with the most recent also coming against Florida State in 2021.
- The Deacs have advanced to the final on three occasions in 1999, 2010 and 2011.
The Demon Deacons have won the ACC Tournament once in 2010.
- Wake Forest took down the Seminoles in the quarterfinals, before knocking off No. 1-seed North Carolina in the semifinals on penalty kicks (5-4) after playing to a 1-1 draw in regulation and extra time.
- The final was also won on penalties (3-1) after a 1-1 battle against Maryland.
This marks the first time since the tournament was reduced that the Deacs have qualified for back-to-back ACC Tournaments.
Wake Forest holds an overall record of 11-17-7 in the tournament and a 3-7-4 mark in Cary.

Historic Regular Season

Earlier today, 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.
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.
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.
Caiya Hanks has been producing at a very high level offensively this season.
- She has a team-best eight goals, seven assists and 23 total points, including a goal in four of the last six matches.
- Caiya Hanks ranks eighth in the ACC in total points (23) and ninth in goals (8) and assists (7).
  - Additionally, her 18 points in conference play ranked second in the ACC and her seven goals were tied for the most.
- She is now five points away from cracking the top 10 in program history for a single season.
Emily Colton has recorded at least one goal contribution in nine of her last 12 appearances for the Demon Deacons and is second on the team with 17 total points.
- She had a goal contribution in seven of Wake Forest's 10 ACC matches.
- Additionally, her five assists rank third on the team.
- Colton was recently ranked as the No. 2 player in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer.
Emily Murphy has also been incredible over her last six games, scoring four times, notching four assists and being involved in multiple other scoring opportunities for the Demon Deacons.
- She is now tied for first on the team with a career-high seven assists this season and ranks third in the squad with 15 total points.
- Additionally, she has 20 goals and 19 assists for her collegiate career, putting her at 59 points.
The Deacs currently have three top-10 wins this season, the most for the Deacs since 2012.
Wake Forest enters the match ranked in the top five of the ACC in multiple categories, including ranking first goals-against average (.647), fifth in shots per game (17.59), fourth in corners per game (6.35) and fifth in goal differential (+23).
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.
In goal, Valentina Amaral improved to 8-2-1 for her career in games she's started and has only allowed seven goals over 1,125 minutes of action for a stellar .56 career goals-against average.
- This season, she has the fourth-best goals-against average in the ACC (.667).
- It was her fifth complete-game clean sheet and ninth overall.
The Demon Deacons have three players with double-digit points and seven players with five or more so far in 2024.
- Caiya Hanks - 23 points (8 goals, 7 assists)
- Emily Colton - 17 points (6 goals, 5 assists)
- Emily Murphy - 15 points (4 goals, 7 assists)
- Sierra Sythe - 9 points (3 goals, 3 assists)
- Nikayla Small - 9 points (3 goals, 3 assists)
- Anna Swanson - 7 points (3 goals, 1 assist)
- Hannah Johnson - 7 points (3 goals, 1 assist)
Nikayla Small's opener against NC State was the fourth-fastest goal in program history at 61 seconds and was the fastest for the Deacs since 2006.
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).

Last Time Out

In their final regular season contest, the No. 3-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team netted a 3-0 shutout victory against NC State Thursday evening at Spry Stadium to clinch their spot in the ACC Tournament for the second-consecutive year.
The Demon Deacons struck almost instantly as senior Nikayla Small gave Wake Forest the 1-0 advantage just 61 seconds in for the fourth-fastest goal in program history. The goal came following brilliant build-up play out of the back before senior midfielder Emily Colton played a great ball to fellow senior Emily Murphy near the edge of the box, who then played it through to Small in front of goal for the finish.
Wake Forest doubled the advantage in the 49th minute as Murphy buried it from the spot after Hanks was taken down in the box following a great bit of skill.
Hannah Johnson wrapped up the scoring and made it 3-0 to the hosts as she headed home a brilliant cross from Kristin Johnson. It marked Johnson's third goal of the season and seventh of her career. Johnson notched her ninth-career assist.
The Wolfpack recorded only four shots on the match, with only two shots testing the Demon Deacon net.
The Demon Deacons recorded their ninth clean sheet of the campaign and fifth in ACC play. The Deacs have only allowed 11 goals this season, which would be the lowest in program history
Wake Forest improved to 20-8-3 all-time over the Wolfpack dating back to 1994. In Winston-Salem, the Deacs are now 10-2-2 against NC State and have not lost at home to the Pack since 1996.
The Deacs have posted a stellar 17-3-6 record at home since the start of 2022, with its lone loss over the past two seasons coming against No. 1 Duke on Sunday.

Scouting the Seminoles

Florida State enters the match with a 13-2-2 record and have won six-consecutive matches, outscoring opponents 19-to-4 during that span.
- The Seminoles have scored 55 goals this season, the most in the ACC and fourth-most in the nation.
In the first round of the ACC Tournament, the Seminoles defeated No. 13-ranked and No. 6-seed Notre Dame, 2-1, in Tallahassee.
They are led by Taylor Huff, who ranks third in the conference with 29 total points with her 10 goals and nine assists both first on the team.
In goal, Addie Todd has posted seven clean sheets this season with a goals-against average of .860.
Florida State has won the second-most ACC Tournament titles at 10, with all of them coming since 2011.
- The Seminoles have claimed the last four championships.

Series History vs. Florida State

Wake Forest leads the all-time series with Florida State, 14-13-5, dating back to 1995.
In the ACC Tournament, the two schools have met six times, with Florida State advancing five of the six times.
- The most recent came in the 2021 semifinals as the Seminoles claimed a 2-1 victory in Cary.
- The one Wake Forest victory came in 2010 with a 3-1 win in the quarterfinals en-route to their only ACC Championship in program history.
This will mark the second time this season the two sides have met, with Wake Forest claiming a 4-1 victory at Spry Stadium on Oct. 3.
The first-ever meeting was a 4-1 victory for the Demon Deacons, marking the first ACC win in program history on Oct. 30, 1995.

Up Next
The winner of the match will take on the winner of No. 1-seed Duke and No. 4-seed North Carolina in the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 10. The game will be shown live on ESPNU at noon.

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Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Zara Chavoshi

Emily Colton

Caiya Hanks

Hannah Johnson

Kristin Johnson

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Nikayla Small

Anna Swanson

Sierra Sythe

Wake Forest Athletics