Wake Forest Falls To No. 4 Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. – Playing its second-straight top-10 opponent in a four-day span, the Wake Forest men's soccer team (2-3-3, 0-1-1 ACC) dropped a tightly contested 1-0 decision to No. 4 Clemson (4-1-2, 2-1-0 ACC) on Friday evening at Historic Riggs Field.

The result snapped an ACC-best eight-match unbeaten streak in conference regular season play. The Deacs were unbeaten in eight-straight ACC regular season matches dating back to a 1-1 draw with No. 7 Syracuse on Sept. 16, 2023.

In goal, senior Trace Alphin recorded five saves in the first half to keep the game level heading into the break. He finished the contest with a season-high six saves, two shy of his career-best set back in 2021.

The lone goal of the evening came in the 53rd minute on a penalty kick for the Tigers.

Wake Forest will return to action next Friday, facing Syracuse in New York. The Deacs' third ACC match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

How It Happened

Following a great long ball from senior Trace Alphin, graduate Colin Thomas registered the first shot of the match in the sixth minute from the edge of the box, but it was blocked by a Clemson defender.
In the 13th minute, Alphin extended to stop Clemson's first shot attempt on goal of the evening.
The keeper was called into action once again 10 minutes later as he made an excellent diving save to keep the match scoreless.
- Alphin would finish the first half with five saves.
Cooper Flax came close to an opener in the 27th minute, but the match remains scoreless.
Wake Forest completed the opening 45 minutes with 52 percent of the possession while registering four shots.
A clever backheel from redshirt sophomore Nico Rabiu set up junior Basit Umar free for a great chance on the edge of the 18, but it was saved by the Clemson keeper.
- Freshman Pariss Mitchell pounced on the rebound for a second opportunity, but the follow up went wide.
The Tigers took the lead with a penalty kick in the 53rd minute.
Increased Deacon pressure nearly netted Wake Forest's equalizer, as passing across the 18 found Flax who had a 60th minute shot saved.
Sophomore Travis Smith Jr. sent a powerful 66th minute attempt that was stopped.
The Demon Deacons continued to push for an equalizer, as Mitchell fired an attempt and forced another tough save out of the opposing keeper in the 72nd minute.
Umar and Paris both had attempts blocked by defenders in the 78th and 81st minutes, respectively.
Despite heavy pressure from the Deacs over the final 10 minutes, they were unable to find the equalizer and fell to the Tigers, 1-0.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

Senior Julian Kennedy made his 60th career appearance.
Junior Basit Umar made his 35th career appearance.
Sophomore Jeffrey White made his 25th career appearance.
Senior goalkeeper Trace Alphin logged a season-high six saves Friday night, two shy of his career-best set in 2021.

From Coach Muuss
"I'm just disappointed with our first half performance and lack of details. I think we settled down at halftime. I thought we could have found more chances in the game. I'm happy with the effort in the second half, but we just had unforced turnovers, silly decisions and kept stepping in defensively. We've got to do a better job defensively than what we did in that situation."

Up Next
Wake Forest will make its first appearance in New York since the 2022 season next Friday night when the Demon Deacons face Syracuse.

Kick-off for the match is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

Next Event

Team Stats

Pariss Mitchell

Basit Umar

Cooper Flax

Travis Smith Jr.

Players Mentioned

Trace Alphin

Cooper Flax

Julian Kennedy

Pariss Mitchell

Nico Rabiu

Travis Smith Jr.

Colin Thomas

Basit Umar

Jeffrey White

Wake Forest Athletics