Wake Forest Battles North Carolina in First-Ever National Championship Appearance, Closes Out Impressive 2024 Season

CARY, N.C. – In front of 9,475 fans, the Wake Forest women's soccer team's historic season came to a close Monday night at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. as the Demon Deacons fell to North Carolina, 1-0, in the National Championship match.

The memorable season concluded with the Deacs making their first NCAA National Championship appearance and second College Cup trip in program history, joining the 2011 squad. It also marked Wake Forest's 23rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with 22 of them coming under the helm of Tony da Luz.

The Demon Deacons were ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll entering the NCAA Tournament. This season, they were ranked as high as No. 2, the highest ranking in program history. Additionally, Wake Forest entered the final week of the regular season seventh in RPI and first 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.

Head Coach Tony da Luz is one of just 26 coaches to coach in the College Cup multiple times (2011, 2024). Additionally, he is one of 20 coaches all-time to have 24 or more NCAA Tournament wins and ranks tied for seventh all-time in NCAA Tournament appearances at 23.

On Monday in the Championship match, Wake Forest controlled possession for much of the game, owning 60 percent of the ball while also having the 7-to-6 shot advantage as well as the 4-to-2 corner advantage.

The Demon Deacons also managed three shots on goal, all coming the first 45 minutes of the game including two from senior forward Emily Murphy. Murphy along with senior midfielder Emily Colton and senior defender Zara Chaoshi earned All-Tournament Team honors.

The lone marker of the game from the Tar Heels came off a set piece in the 62nd minute as both shots on frame in the second half came from North Carolina.

How It Happened

The Demon Deacons recorded the first chance for either side as senior Emily Murphy's long range effort was saved in the ninth minute.
The Deacs would come close to scoring again on a well executed corner in the 14th minute, but sophomore Sierra Sythe's effort in the box was saved by the Carolina keeper.
- Murphy forced another save less than a minute later.
The Demon Deacons continued to put pressure on the Carolina goal, as Murphy nearly found junior Caiya Hanks with a dangerous crossing ball, but the Hawaiian was unable to stick a leg out to put it in the back of the net.
- Hanks added her first shot of the contest a couple minutes later with a volley from outside the box in the 37th minute.
After a dominant first half, the Deacs went into halftime locked in a scoreless draw.
- Wake Forest controlled a majority of the possession (62 percent) while outshooting North Carolina 5-1 and recording the only two corners in the opening frame.
- The Deacs also recorded the only three shots on goal in the first half.
The Demon Deacons notched the first shot of the second half as Hanks had her shot blocked in the 55th minute.
Sophomore Valentina Amaral was forced into action for the first time on the evening, saving a long range effort in the 57th minute.
North Carolina took the lead in the 62nd meet on a free kick.
Hanks found herself in another dangerous position to score, but her strike from outside the box sailed high in the 64th minute.
The Demon Deacons kept pushing for an equalizer as senior Emily Colton's dangerous cross was unable to find a player in the box in the 86th minute.
The Deacs continued to fight until the very end but fell to the Tarheels 1-0.

From Coach
"I just want to thank the town of Cary and WakeMed for hosting this fantastic event. Everything was first class and it made our experience really special. I also want to congratulate North Carolina. Great, great game. I'm sad that Anson [Dorrance] couldn't be here to accept this, but I have total respect for him and all he's done to build this program and put it where it is. I wish him all the best. Damon [Nahas] has done a fantastic job with this team all season long and I congratulate him on his first National Championship. I couldn't be prouder of our team. We had an incredible season. Our performances were so consistent all year long. Tonight, we were fantastic. I thought we did everything but win the game. We moved the ball as well as we have all year long. It was very similar to our first game against UNC. We just let them off the hook. We weren't precise enough to get the goal and it is the way it is. I'm so proud of our team and our seniors, our 19 seniors. Everyone bought in this year. It's incredible the family; that is just special. It was just one in a million." - Head coach Tony da Luz

Season Highlights

Wake Forest advanced to the College Cup for the second time in program history, with the first coming in 2011 when the Demon Deacons had Katie Stengel (Crystal Palace) leading the line and Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit) between the sticks.
It also marked Wake Forest's 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.
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 same five were also named All-Atlantic Region by United Soccer Coaches, with Hanks earning First Team honors followed by Colton and Chavoshi on the second team, Murphy on the third team and Amaral on the fourth team.
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.
- Wake Forest finished the 2024 season with a 9-1-1 mark at Spry.
- Before the loss to Duke earlier this year, the Demon Deacons held the program record for longest home unbeaten streak at 15 matches.
Head coach Tony da Luz is one of just 26 coaches to coach in the College Cup multiple times (2011, 2024).
- Additionally, he is one of 20 coaches all-time to have 24 or more NCAA Tournament wins and ranks tied for seventh all-time in NCAA Tournament appearances at 23.
On Saturday, Hanks became just the second player in Wake Forest history to be tabbed First Team All-America.
- Emily Colton (Third Team) and Zara Chavoshi (Fourth Team) also earned national honors.
The Demon Deacons were ranked No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. This season, they were ranked as high as No. 2, the highest ranking in program history.
- Additionally, Wake Forest entered the final week seventh in RPI and first 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 had five top-10 wins this season, the most for the Deacs in program history.
Three weeks ago, 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.
With three goals and five assists in the NCAA tournament, star forward Caiya Hanks finished the season inside the top 10 in program history in points (34), goals (11) and assists (12) for a single season.
- Her assist against Stanford broke the record for the most assists in a single-season as a Demon Deacon (12).
  - The point also moved her to 34 for the year which only trails Katie Stengel's 2010 (37 points) and 2011 (46 points) seasons.
- Hanks was also tied for the most total points (11) and led in assists (5) for the NCAA Tournament, while also sitting tied for sixth in goals (3).
- On Wednesday, she was named as a MAC Hermann Semifinalist, just the second player in Wake Forest history to accomplish this.
- 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).
- In addition to being named First Team All-ACC, Hanks was also tabbed to TopDrawerSoccer's National Team of the Week for her performance against Morehead State in the first round.
Following her opening goal against Colorado, senior midfielder Emily Colton finished third on the team with 21 total points.
- In the tournament opener, she recorded the first multi-assist game of her career.
- She had 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.
Ending the season on an incredible 15-game stretch, scoring seven times and notching five assists during that span, senior forward Emily Murphy (anything against UNC?).
- Murphy scored in three of the six NCAA Tournament matches.
- She was second on the team with 22 points on the year with seven goals and eight assists, all of which are career-highs.
- Additionally, she finished with 23 goals and 20 assists for her collegiate career, putting her at 66 points, the most of any Demon Deacon on the 2024 squad.
Emily Morris was a crucial part of Wake Forest's success this season, playing in a versatile role throughout the campaign. Despite playing in a more defensive role, she scored in three postseason matches for the Deacs, including the winner in the semifinals.
- She had 10 goals for her career in addition to seven assists for 27 points.
- Of note, she is one of four players to have started and played every match this year.
- Morris was named to the ACC All-Tournament team following her equalizer against Florida State in the semifinals.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Valentina Amaral had an incredible performance in the quarterfinals against USC and single-handedly kept the Demon Deacons alive for most of the contest.
- In the semifinals, she logged four saves including an incredible diving stop in the first half that earned its way on Sportscenter's Top 10 plays.
- Her .620 goals-against average this season ranked 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 now 12-3-3 in matches she has started for her career.

Wake Forest kept the same back four for the last 16 matches (aside from a back five on one instance against Florida State in the ACC Tournament, but the same four players started as Emily Morris slotted back). During that span, Wake Forest was 11-2-3 and have only conceded 11 goals.
- Left back: Kristin Johnson - Senior
  - The Reykjavík, Iceland-native had the most appearances (80) and starts (72) in a Wake Forest uniform out of all active Demon Deacons, having logged over 6,000 career minutes across her four years.
  - Despite being a natural center back, Johnson has thrived at full back and has recorded 10-career assists, including four this season.
- Center back: Zara Chavoshi - Senior
  - Chavoshi leads the team with 2,152 minutes on the pitch this season and is the only player on the back line to have started every game.
  - She has started 70 of her 73 collegiate appearances, scoring twice and recording four assists across 6,286 career minutes.
- Center back: Laurel Ansbrow - Senior
  - Yet another experienced veteran, Ansbrow is a leader on and off the pitch.
  - She has appeared in all 24 matches with 23 starts.
  - With 107 minutes against USC, Ansbrow became the third Demon Deacon on the back line to surpass 5,000 career minutes
  - Ansbrow was the recipient of the Elite 90 award for the 2024 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championship. She is the first Wake Forest student athlete for any sport to win the award.
- Right back: Sierra Sythe - Redshirt Freshman
  - After missing her entire first season due to injury, Sierra Sythe has made an instant impact in 2024.
  - Sythe is a natural winger, but due to injuries at right back, she was slotted into defense and excelled at what she was asked to do.
  - She had three goals this season and added three assists, including the assist on the winner in the semifinals.

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Wake Forest Battles North Carolina in First-Ever National Championship Appearance, Closes Out Impressive 2024 Season

Team Stats

Emily Colton

Caiya Hanks

Emily Murphy

Sierra Sythe

Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Laurel Ansbrow

Zara Chavoshi

Emily Colton

Caiya Hanks

Kristin Johnson

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Sierra Sythe

Wake Forest Athletics

Wake Forest Battles North Carolina in First-Ever National Championship Appearance, Closes Out Impressive 2024 Season

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Emily Colton

Caiya Hanks

Emily Murphy

Sierra Sythe

Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Laurel Ansbrow

Zara Chavoshi

Emily Colton

Caiya Hanks

Kristin Johnson

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Sierra Sythe

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