No. 18 Wake Forest Falls to Iowa on the Road

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Ending an unbeaten streak of 27-consecutive matches against non-conference opponents in the regular season, the No. 18-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team fell on the road to Iowa, 2-0, Sunday evening at Iowa Soccer Complex.

Wake Forest (3-1-1) outshot Iowa (3-0-2) 10-to-8 over the 90 minutes, but was unable to find the back of the net. Senior Emily Murphy was unlucky not to have scored early on, as she fired a shot onto the crossbar in the third minute.

The Demon Deacons and Hawkeyes split an even share of possession Sunday night.

In defense, senior duo Laurel Ansbrow and Zara Chavoshi went the full 90 together for the fourth time this season.

Almost exactly a year after her last collegiate appearance, Valentina Amaral entered for Payton Cahill in the 79th minute and took over in goal. Junior Allie Schmidt also made her first appearance of 2024.

The loss is the first for the Demon Deacons against a non-conference opponent in the regular season since 2020. They held a 23-0-4 record in those matches.

How It Happened

Emily Murphy almost gave Wake Forest the early lead in the third minute, as she found herself on the end of a beautiful Emily Morris cross, but fired it off the crossbar.
Against the run of play, Iowa took the lead against the run over play in the 18th minute.
Murphy called the opposing keeper into action for the first time in the 23rd minute when she cut inside and fired it with her right from just outside the box.
The Hawkeyes went into the break up a goal.
- Wake Forest controlled 59 percent of possession in the first half and outshot Iowa, 5-3.
Iowa doubled its advantage in the 55th minute.
Caiya Hanks, Nikayla Small and Sierra Sythe generated a few half-chances within 10 minutes after the Iowa goal, but were unable to find a response.
Murphy drove into the box and got another powerful shot off in the 75th minute.
Almost exactly a year after her last collegiate appearance, Valentina Amaral entered for Payton Cahill in the 79th minute and took over in goal.
- At the same time, Allie Schmidt came on for the first time in 2024.
The Deacs pushed hard, but inevitably fell to the Hawkeyes, 2-0.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

Nikayla Small made her 40th-career start.
Abbie Colton made her 30th-career appearance and 20th-career start.
The loss is the first for the Demon Deacons against a non-conference opponent in the regular season since 2020. They held a 23-0-4 record in those matches
Valentina Amaral and Allie Schmidt made their season debuts.

From Coach da Luz
"We struggled to adapt to Iowa's direct style of play. The long balls and heading flicks knocked us off our rhythm. Iowa was hungry and deserved the win. We were actually good with the ball for stretches of the game, we created good chances in the box but we are struggling to convert. We are waiting too long to release shots and our runs in the box still need improvement. I believe in our attacking players, the goals will come. Back to work this week to improve as a team."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons will now conclude their road stretch with a match against Villanova on Thursday.

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Team Stats

Emily Murphy

Nikayla Small

Amaya Dawkins

Emily Colton

Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Laurel Ansbrow

Payton Cahill

Zara Chavoshi

Abbie Colton

Caiya Hanks

Emily Morris

Emily Murphy

Allie Schmidt

Nikayla Small

Sierra Sythe

Wake Forest Athletics