Wake Forest Set for Home Opener Against Temple

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Following a successful opening weekend on the road, the Wake Forest women's soccer team is set for its home opener against Temple at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22 at Spry Stadium.

The Demon Deacons have not lost a game at home since 2022 after an outstanding undefeated season at Spry Stadium last season. Over the last two seasons, Wake Forest has compiled an impressive 11-2-5 record at home.

The contest will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra with live stats available here.

Need to Know - Game 3
Temple (0-2-0) at Wake Forest (1-0-1)
Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024 - 6 PM - ACCN Extra
Winston-Salem, N.C.. – Spry Stadium

Scouting the Owls

Temple opened the season with a 1-0 defeat at home to Monmouth followed by a 4-0 road loss at Villanova.
Head coach Chris Shaw is in his first season at Temple after joining from Robert Morris. In 15 years as a head coach, Shaw has compiled a 158-117-20 record. In 2023, Shaw led the Colonials to one of their most successful seasons in history (12-5-3), taking the team to the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship.
In 2023, Temple finished 2-13-3 overall and 0-9-0 in conference play.
Last season, goalkeeper Tasmin Byone started nine games and saw action in eleven total and made 58 saves. So far in 2024, she tallied 14 saves against Monmouth and five at Villanova. She ranks first in the conference and third nationally with 19 total saves.
Sophomore transfer from Delaware State, Ahsia Thomas started all 15 matches for the Hornets last season. She logged the second most field minutes with 1,276 and recorded seven shots on goal.
The Owls have eight incoming freshmen joining the roster.

Quick Hitters

Wake Forest was one of 11 ACC schools to remain unbeaten after the opening weekend of play.
Hannah Johnson leads the Demon Deacons in total points with three after the first weekend. The junior striker bagged the first Wake Forest goal of the season in the opener against Army and followed that up with an assist on Caiya Hanks' equalizer against Rutgers.
Senior goalkeeper Payton Cahill has kept five clean sheets in her 10-career starts and has yet to allow multiple goals in a single game throughout her career.
The Demon Deacons are receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll.
Last season for the first time since 2007, the Demon Deacons went unbeaten at home with a record of 5-0-4 at Spry Stadium.
Over the last two years, Wake Forest has compiled an impressive 11-2-5 record at Spry Stadium.
Additionally, the Deacs have not conceded a goal in a home opener since 2018 (excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign).

Series History vs. Temple

Wake Forest and Temple have only met once before in 2019.
The Demon Deacons earned a 3-0 home victory over the Owls in the season opener.
The Demon Deacons (1-0) were dominant, out-shooting the Owls (0-1) by a 26-2 margin.
Hulda Arnarsdottir netted what proved to be the game-winner in the 12th minute off a through ball from Lily Schneider and cross by Estelle Laurier.
Hayley Younginer and Shayla Smart scored their first Wake Forest goals 35 seconds apart in the 41st minute.
- Younginer finished off a cross from Ashley Frank to make the score 2-0 at the 40:11 mark, followed by Smart slotting a shot past the keeper after a Madison Hammond through ball.
Goalkeepers Meghan Kennedy (one save) and Mac Carmichael combined for the shutout in goal.

Last Time Out

After falling behind with a minute to go in the first half, the Wake Forest women's soccer team battled back to earn a hard-fought, 1-1 draw against Rutgers Sunday afternoon at Yurcak Field.
The Demon Deacons (1-0-1) equalized in the 67th minute, as redshirt freshman Sierra Sythe played a perfect ball into the box for junior Hannah Johnson, who then headed it on into the path of fellow junior Caiya Hanks to tap it in from close range.
It marked Hanks' eighth-career goal after leading the team with six last campaign. Additionally, she now has 23 career points. Sythe and Johnson both picked up their first career assists on the goal.
Wake Forest outshot Rutgers, 13-to-6, throughout the match and also won eight corners to just two conceded. For the second-consecutive match to open the season, the Deacs also held a larger share of the possession with 61 percent.
Freshman Amaya Dawkins made her first-career appearance for the Deacs in the 32nd minute when she came on for Nikayla Small. The Texas-native logged 24 minutes and fired two shots in her collegiate debut.
Senior center backs Laurel Ansbrow and Zara Chavoshi went the full 90 and defended well throughout the contest. Fellow senior Kristin Johnson made her season debut coming out of the halftime break and put in 29 minutes of work.
The Demon Deacons remain unbeaten against Rutgers all-time with two wins and a draw dating back to 1995.

Returning Production

The Wake Forest women's soccer team will be bringing back 84.4% of its goal production (27 of 32) and 100% of its assists (22 of 22) from last season.
The team will be made up of 19 seniors, including two veteran transfers in Emily Colton (midfielder from UNC) and Pagie Nurkin (goalkeeper from Columbia) that will make an instant impact. 19 seniors is believed to be the most in NCAA D1 in 2024.
- 29 total returners is the second-most in NCAA D1 and most in the ACC.
Just a few of the key returners include:
- Senior defender Laurel Ansbrow has been the leader of the defense over the last two seasons and has led all outfield players in minutes during that span.
- Junior Forward Caiya Hanks led the team with 16 points last campaign with six goals and four assists.
- Senior forward Emily Murphy finished tied for the team lead with six goals in addition to two assists for 14 total points in her first season in the Old Gold & Black.
- Junior goalkeeper Payton Cahill finished her first true regular season with a record of 4-0-3 and allowed just four goals in seven starts.
- Senior midfielder Nikayla Small's seven assists was a career-high and finished the regular season fifth in the ACC and 40th nationally. Additionally, seven assists ranks tied for the eighth most in a single season in Wake Forest history.
- Freshman defender Dempsey Brown was a crucial part of the Demon Deacon's backline and midfield throughout the season. She has started 16 of Wake Forest's 18 games and has played the full 90 minutes in 12 matches. She led all freshmen on the team with 1,355 minutes played en route to an ACC All-Freshman Team selection.

Meet The Newcomers

The Demon Deacons welcome six new players to the roster for the 2024 campaign, including four freshman and two veteran transfers. TopDrawerSoccer has the Demon Deacons with the No. 17-ranked recruiting class.
- Emily Colton (North Carolina)
  - Joins her sister, Abbie, on the Wake Forest women's soccer team after three successful seasons with the Tar Heels. She started all 67 possible games over the last three seasons and has been stellar in the midfield. She finished 2023 with two goals and one assist. In 2022, she ranked fourth on the team and 13th in the ACC in total assists (6), including three in a single game against Baylor. She was named to the ACC All-Freshman team in 2021 after leading the Tar Heels in goals (7) and finished second on the team in total points (15). She was called up to join the U.S. Under-20 Women's Youth National Team to compete in the Concacaf Women's Championship and the four-team Sud Ladies Cup in 2022. Colton was one of four Americans named to the Concacaf Women's U-20 Championship Best XI Team, leading the USA in assists in the tournament with five and helped the US win its seventh Concacaf U20 title and earn a spot in the Women's U20 World Cup.
- Paige Nurkin (Columbia)
  - In 2023 for Columbia, Nurkin started 18 games and allowed just 13 goals all season for a 0.75 goals against average. She totaled 61 saves for an 82.4 save percentage and finished the season with a 10-5-3 record including seven shutouts. Her performances saw her named First Team All-Ivy League and Academic All-Ivy. She played a major role in helping Columbia lead the nation in goals against average, save percentage and shutout percentage at points during the season. Nurkin tallied four saves to help lead Columbia past Rutgers for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
- Chloe Burst (Mount Carmel Academy)
  - Burst played on varsity as an eighth grader at Mount Carmel Academy and was named to the All-State First Team. The following year as a freshman, she won the Louisiana High School State Championship and was named MVP while once again earning All-State First Team. She played for 2007 TDPElite Boys and 2006 ECNL Girls from 2021-23 and was invited to USYNT ID Camps in 2021, 2022 and 2023. She comes in as the No. 58-ranked recruit by TopDrawerSoccer.
- Amaya Dawkins (Wylie East)
  - As a midfielder for Wylie East, Dawkins was named District MVP in back-to-back seasons in 2022-23 and 2023-24, as well as named to the Texas All-State First Team. She was also named District Midfielder of the Year during her freshman and sophomore campaigns. In 2022-23, she earned Texas All-State Tournament Team Honors. For FC Dallas she was tabbed ECNL Texas First Team All-Conference in 2020-21 and Second Team in 2021-22. She joins Wake Forest as the No. 80-ranked recruit by TopDrawerSoccer.
- Lola Ressler (Montverde Academy)
  - Ressler was a 2024 Florida Class 3A State Champion and earned State Championship MVP Honors before coming to Wake Forest. She was named to the 2024 All-Area First Team and tabbed ECNL Southeast All Conference First Team honors twice. Ressler also garnered Southeast All-Conference First Team honors. She comes to Winston-Salem as a top-200 recruit by TopDrawerSoccer.
- Josie Noble (New Trier)
  - For New Trier Township High School, Noble was named Central Suburban League All-Conference twice and earned Illinois All-State honors. She was a three-time Illinois State Champion, Central Suburban League Offensive Player of the Year and Naperville Invitational MVP. Noble played club for Eclipse Select SC.

Home Ticket Information
To experience The Best Fan Experience in North Carolina, single game bleacher general admission for non-conference action starts at $5 while reserve chairbacks are $10. For all ACC action, bleacher general admission is $10 with reserve chairbacks at $15.

To order, visit godeacs.com/tickets or call the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336.758.3322.

This year, Demon Deacon women's soccer will host 2023 National Champion Florida State, 2023 National Championship runner up Stanford, 2023 NCAA Tournament team Mississippi State and Big Four foes Duke and NC State in a loaded home slate.

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
Following the match against Temple, the Demon Deacons will remain at home for a ranked test against Mississippi State on Sunday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Laurel Ansbrow

Dempsey Brown

Chloe Burst

Payton Cahill

Zara Chavoshi

Emily Colton

Amaya Dawkins

Caiya Hanks

Hannah Johnson

Kristin Johnson

Emily Murphy

Josie Noble

Paige Nurkin

Lola Ressler

Nikayla Small

Sierra Sythe

Wake Forest Athletics