No. 15 Wake Forest Begins Regular Season Play Hosting VCU
8/21/2024 1:26:00 PM | Men's Soccer
The Deacs’ first of two home matches of the opening weekend will see Wake Forest host the Rams.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following the program's 13th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and a record fifth ACC Atlantic Division title in nine seasons, the No. 15 ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team will begin the 2024 campaign on Thursday night hosting VCU at Spry Stadium.
The match will be the second of a doubleheader with women's soccer hosting Temple at 6 p.m. Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the contest will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Fan Information
Parking is encouraged in lots A, B, Q, W1 & W2. A complete parking map of campus is here.
Gates open one hour prior to kickoff for all home matches.
Wake Forest Athletics is committed to providing the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina within a safe and fan-friendly environment. The first 300 fans in attendance for Thursday night's match will receive an exclusive Wake Forest soccer shirt.
Ticket Information
2024 Wake Forest soccer season and single game tickets are on-sale now giving fans the opportunity to witness The Best Fan Experience In North Carolina from a number of unique seating options!
Adult season tickets start as low as $70 for general admission and $50 for youth while reserved chairbacks are $130 for fans and $110 for Wake Forest University faculty and staff.
Fans can catch all of Demon Deacon home action this fall as well by purchasing combo season tickets to see both men's and women's soccer starting as low as $90 for general admission and $180 for reserved chairbacks for fans and $150 for Wake Forest University faculty and staff.
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.
Wake Forest Athletics is always open to learning about new ideas and ways we can improve. Please report accessibility challenges, identify content you find inaccessible, or give us general feedback at pantagw@wfu.edu.
The Matchup
Consecutive Seasons With 10+ Victories
The Spry Advantage
Home Winning Percentage Since 2015
Consistent Threat In The Toughest Conference In The Country
Looking Ahead
The match will be the second of a doubleheader with women's soccer hosting Temple at 6 p.m. Kick-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the contest will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Fan Information
Parking is encouraged in lots A, B, Q, W1 & W2. A complete parking map of campus is here.
Gates open one hour prior to kickoff for all home matches.
Wake Forest Athletics is committed to providing the Best Fan Experience in North Carolina within a safe and fan-friendly environment. The first 300 fans in attendance for Thursday night's match will receive an exclusive Wake Forest soccer shirt.
Ticket Information
2024 Wake Forest soccer season and single game tickets are on-sale now giving fans the opportunity to witness The Best Fan Experience In North Carolina from a number of unique seating options!
Adult season tickets start as low as $70 for general admission and $50 for youth while reserved chairbacks are $130 for fans and $110 for Wake Forest University faculty and staff.
Fans can catch all of Demon Deacon home action this fall as well by purchasing combo season tickets to see both men's and women's soccer starting as low as $90 for general admission and $180 for reserved chairbacks for fans and $150 for Wake Forest University faculty and staff.
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.
Wake Forest Athletics is always open to learning about new ideas and ways we can improve. Please report accessibility challenges, identify content you find inaccessible, or give us general feedback at pantagw@wfu.edu.
The Matchup
- Wake Forest and VCU will meet in each program's respective season opener for the second time in four seasons on Thursday night.
- The Demon Deacons enter the match ranked No. 15 in the United Soccer Coaches' preseason poll.
- This will mark the first of nine non-conference matches for Wake Forest in 2024, as the Deacs will also face Central Arkansas, No. 19 UCF, Gardner-Webb, Radford, Elon, ETSU, Wofford and UNCW.
- Following Thursday night's match, VCU will continue non-conference action facing fellow Virginia institution Old Dominion.
- Wake Forest claimed its fifth ACC Atlantic Division title in nine seasons and a 13th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2023 campaign.
- The Deacs finished the 2023 campaign with an 11-3-5 record, as Wake Forest is tied for the most consecutive double-digit win seasons nationally at 10.
- The Deacs finished the regular season unbeaten against non-conference opponents (7-0-2) and secured points in each of the final seven ACC contests.
- Thursday's match marks the ninth all-time meeting between the Demon Deacons and Rams with Wake Forest holding a 5-1-2 record in the series.
- The showdown also marks the third time the Deacs and Rams have started a campaign against each other, with Wake Forest scoring a 2-1 victory in the 2008 opener while VCU notched a 2-0 victory in the 2021 opener.
- Wake Forest will be seeking its first victory over VCU since a 2-1 outcome over a then-No. 17 ranked Rams squad on Sept. 24, 2013.
- VCU in 2023 finished with a winning record for the third time in four seasons, facing four ranked foes in non-conference action including a 1-1 draw with No. 23 New Hampshire to open the season.
- The Rams were selected first in the A-10 Preseason Poll.
- This will mark the fourth-straight year VCU has opened the season facing a ranked opponent.
- Wake Forest is the first of five opponents the Rams will face that made the 2023 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship.
- Wake Forest's 2024 roster features eight players who have appeared in more than 40 career matches including four fifth-year returnees in Colin Thomas, Prince Amponsah, Sidney Paris and Cristian Escribano.
- Additionally, Trace Alphin, Julian Kennedy, Babacar Niang, Nicolas Mancilla and Bo Cummins – all members of TopDrawerSoccer's No. 1 nationally ranked 2021 recruiting class – and the returning Ryan Fessler will be entering their fourth seasons in the Old Gold & Black.
- New to the roster this season are 10 freshmen and two transfers, as Wake Forest's 2024 incoming class ranked No. 4 nationally in TopDrawerSoccer's final recruiting rankings.
- Along with the freshmen newcomers, a pair of all-conference transfers joined the program in 2022 A-10 Rookie of the Year Basit Umar and 2023 All-Big East third-team selection Pierce Bateson.
- Named the fourth head coach in program history prior to the start of the 2015 season, Bobby Muuss' Demon Deacon squads have built on the longstanding and rich 44-year history of the program.
- Since 2015, Wake Forest's 140 total wins ranks No. 1 nationally, six more than any program and 14 more than any other ACC program. During that span, Wake Forest is also joined only by Indiana as the only Division I programs to have won at least 10 matches every season.
- Additionally, Wake Forest and Indiana are the only two programs of the 211 programs nationally to hold double-digit NCAA Tournament appearance streaks.
| Rank | Team | Total Wins Since '15 |
| 1. | Wake Forest | 140 |
| 2. | Indiana | 134 |
| 3. | Clemson | 126 |
| 4. | Georgetown | 122 |
| 5. | Stanford | 117 |
| Rank | Team | Consecutive seasons with 10+ wins |
| T1. | Wake Forest & Indiana | 10 |
| 3. | Georgetown | 7 |
| T4. | Clemson, Missouri State, Marshall | 5 |
| 7. | Denver, Duke, Portland | 3 |
- Since Muuss' arrival in 2015, Wake Forest ranks No. 1 nationally in home wins (102), 16 more than any other program nationally during that span and 20 more than any ACC program.
- Over the last nine seasons, the Deacs have won at least eight of their matches at Spry Stadium including a double-digit win total seven of those seasons.
- Wake Forest's home winning percentage of 82.5 percent since 2015 also ranks tied for third nationally, behind only Indiana and New Hampshire.
| Rank | Team | Total Home Wins Since '15 |
| 1. | Wake Forest | 102 |
| 2. | Indiana | 86 |
| 3. | Clemson | 82 |
| T4. | Georgetown & Virginia | 78 |
| 6. | Kentucky | 76 |
| Rank | Team | Home Winning Percentage Since '15 |
| 1. | Indiana | 85.6% |
| 2. | New Hampshire | 82.6% |
| T3. | Wake Forest & Denver | 82.5% |
| 5. | Missouri State | 81.2% |
| 6. | Georgetown | 81.0% |
Consistent Threat In The Toughest Conference In The Country
- Recognized annually as the toughest soccer conference in the country from top to bottom, the ACC has placed the most teams in the NCAA Tournament each of the last 11 seasons and has had at least five teams earn a bid 23-straight seasons.
- During the 2023 NCAA Tournament, the ACC earned nine bids including six national seeds. Additionally, 2024 conference newcomers SMU and Stanford earned the Nos. 6 and 16 national seeds.
- Wake Forest has received an NCAA Tournament bid 13-straight seasons, eight years more than any other 2024 ACC program.
| Rank | Team | Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances |
| 1. | Wake Forest | 13 |
| T2. | Clemson & Pitt | 5 |
| 4. | North Carolina | 4 |
| T5. | Duke & Louisville | 3 |
| T7. | Syracuse, Virginia, Stanford & SMU | 2 |
| 11. | Notre Dame | 1 |
Looking Ahead
- Wake Forest will conclude the opening weekend of the season on Sunday, hosting Central Arkansas in the first-ever meeting between the two sides.
- Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.
Players Mentioned
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