Wake Forest University
8-2-2, 3-1-1
Syracuse
6-6-1, 0-5-0
No. 5 Wake Forest Dominates, Secures Three Points at Syracuse
9/29/2024 4:41:00 PM | Women's Soccer
The Demon Deacons currently sit second in the ACC standings with 10 points through five matches.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Backed by a brace and an assist from junior Caiya Hanks, the No. 5-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team picked up a dominant 3-0 road victory over Syracuse Sunday afternoon at SU Soccer Stadium.
The Demon Deacons (8-2-2, 3-1-1 ACC) took an early lead as great team build up and an excellent drive into the box from senior Emily Murphy set up Caiya Hanks in front of goal for her fourth tally of the season.
The dynamic duo up top combined once again in the 56th minute, as Hanks bagged her second goal and Murphy recorded her second assist of the afternoon in almost identical fashion to the opener.
It marked Hanks' second brace in as many weeks following her stellar performance against Virginia on Sept. 15, which saw her named ACC Offensive Player of the Week.
The third, and final, goal of the afternoon came at the feet of senior midfielder Emily Colton, as Hanks slid a great ball across the box and, following a dummy from Murphy, Colton finished it with ease.
Coming off of her own ACC Offensive Player of the Week award, Colton has now scored in three-consecutive matches and has recorded a goal-contribution in six of the last seven outings.
Hanks' five points marked a career-high as she now leads the team with 15 points and is one point shy of her career-best set last season. Her 31 points over the last two seasons lead the team as well as her 11 goals and nine assists during that span.
With her first-career milti-assist game, Murphy now has a team-best five assists on the year, the most since her freshman season. Her first assist was her 50th-career point as she now has 17 goals and 17 assists over her stellar four-year career.
In goal, Valentina Amaral kept her seventh-career clean sheet in just 10 appearances (solo and combined). She has only allowed three goals in 675 minutes throughout her young career for a stellar 0.40 goals-against average.
Graduate transfer Paige Nurkin made her second appearance for the Demon Deacons as she entered with 11 minutes remaining. She made an excellent save with four minutes to go to keep the clean sheet intact.
In front of the keepers, senior defenders Zara Chavoshi, Laurel Ansbrow, Kristin Johnson along with redshirt freshman Sierra Sythe defended well throughout the contest and only allowed two shots on-goal. Chavoshi was the lone outfield player to go the full 90, as she did so for the 10th time this season.
17-year old freshman Chloe Burst became the youngest player to appear for Wake Forest as she made her collegiate debut and logged 30 minutes.
With the win, Wake Forest improved to 8-2-2 all-time against the Orange (6-6-1, 0-5-0 ACC) dating back to 2006. The Demon Deacons are also on a four-match unbeaten streak against Syracuse and haven't lost to the Orange since 2019. Throughout the series, Wake Forest has out-scored Syracuse 22-7 and have earned eight clean sheets in 12 meetings.
How It Happened
- The Demon Deacons opened the scoring almost immediately, as great team build up and a great drive into the box from Emily Murphy set up Caiya Hanks in front of goal for her fourth tally of the season.
- Hanks forced the Syracuse keeper into a tough save just five minutes later, as she cut in on her left and fired a shot from the corner of the 18.
- The Demon Deacons threatened again in the 18th minute, with Emily Colton and Hanks both firing shots from just outside the box, but the match remained 1-0.
- In the 27th minute, Emily Morris found herself with loads of space and took it, as she launched a shot from distance and called the Orange keeper into action once again.
- A great run from Emily Colton just 45 seconds later created another solid chance for the Demon Deacons.
- The Deacs closed out the half with a couple of half-chances with Alex Wood and Sierra Sythe.
- In the 41st minute, Chloe Burst subbed on for Hanks as she took the field for the first time as a collegiate player.
- Wake Forest went into the break with the 1-0 advantage.
- The Deacs out-shot the Orange 9-to-3 (4-to-0 on-goal) over the first 45 minutes of action.
- The Demon Deacons came out of the half on the front foot, firing five shots over the first 10 minutes and dominated the ball.
- The second goal of the afternoon eventually came in the 56th minute, when Murphy once again found Hanks in front of goal.
- It marked the second brace for Hanks this season and the first multi-assist game of Murphy's career.
- Emily Colton continued to impress and got her goal in the 65th minute as Hanks slid a great ball across the box and, following a dummy from Murphy, Colton finished with ease.
- Colton now has a goal in three-consecutive matches and at least one goal contribution in six of the last seven.
- Wake Forest controlled the remainder of the contest and limited Syracuse's chances.
- After entering in the 79th minute, Paige Nurkin made an incredible save with four minutes to go and kept the clean sheet intact.
- Wake Forest saw out the 3-0 victory.
Demon Deacon Details of Note
- The Demon Deacons are currently ranked No. 5 in United Soccer Coaches Poll, the highest ranking for Wake Forest since 2012.
- Additionally, Wake Forest sits fourth in the RPI and in the TopDrawerSoccer poll.
- Caiya Hanks bagged her second brace in as many weeks with strikes in the 3rd and 56th minutes.
- She also recorded an assist on Emily Colton's goal for a career-high five points.
- She now leads the team with 15 points and is now one point shy of her career-best set last season.
- Her 31 points over the last two seasons lead the team as well as her 11 goals and nine assists during that span.
- With assists on both of Hanks' goals, Emily Murphy now has a team-best five assists on the year and most since her freshman year at North Carolina.
- Her first assist was her 50th-career point as she now has 17 goals and 17 assists over her stellar four-year career.
- It also marked the first multi-assist game of her career.
- The Deacs entered the match ranked fourth in the conference and 19th nationally with 18.45 shots per-game.
- Additionally, they are ranked fifth in the ACC in corners per-game and 19th nationally with 7.18.
- Wake Forest now has 10 points in ACC play, putting them in second at the conclusion of Sunday's contest with five matches left to play.
- The Demon Deacons have two players with double-digit points and six players with five or more so far in 2024.
- Caiya Hanks - 15 points (5 goals, 5 assists)
- Emily Colton - 13 points (5 goals, 3 assists)
- Sierra Sythe - 8 points (3 goals, 2 assists)
- Emily Murphy - 7 points (1 goal, 5 assists)
- Anna Swanson - 6 points (3 goals)
- Hannah Johnson - 5 points (2 goals, 1 assist)
- Coming off of an ACC Offensive Player of the Week award, Emily Colton bagged a goal for the third-consecutive match.
- Colton has now recorded a goal-contribution in six of the last seven outings.
- Wake Forest improves to 8-2-2 all-time against the Orange, dating back to 2006.
- The Deacs are now 4-2-1 all-time at SU Soccer Stadium..
- The Demon Deacons are also on a four-match unbeaten streak against Syracuse and haven't lost to the Orange since 2019.
- Throughout the series, Wake Forest has out-scored Syracuse 22-7 and have earned eight clean sheets in 12 meetings.
- In goal, Valentina Amaral kept her seventh-career clean sheet in just 10 appearances (solo and combined).
- She has only allowed three goals in 675 minutes throughout her young career for a stellar 0.40 goals-against average.
- Additionally, with a save against the Orange, she now holds a .857 career save percentage.
- Graduate transfer Paige Nurkin made her second-appearance for the Demon Deacons as she entered with 11 minutes remaining.
- She made an excellent save with four minutes remaining to keep the clean sheet intact.
- Nikayla Small made her 50th-career appearance.
- Carly Wilson made her 40th-career appearance.
- 17-year old Chloe Burst became the youngest player to appear for Wake Forest as she made her collegiate debut and logged 30 minutes.
From Coach da Luz
"We were focused and ready to win today! This is a tough place to play on a Sunday afternoon and we jumped to the early lead and never looked back. Our team defending was solid, our keepers made two exceptional saves and we played nice soccer. Caiya, Murphy, Small and Colton were sharp in attack. Happy with our team and look forward to a big challenge with Florida State on Thursday night!"
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will now return home for another highly-ranked clash as they host current No. 7 Florida State at Spry Stadium.
The match is slated for 7 p.m. and will be shown live on ACC Network Extra.
Follow The Deacs
Team Stats
Caiya Hanks (5)
Assisted By: Emily Murphy
GOAL by WAK Hanks, Caiya Assist by Murphy, Emily.
02:17
Caiya Hanks (5)
Assisted By: Emily Murphy
GOAL by WAK Hanks, Caiya Assist by Murphy, Emily.
55:31
Emily Colton (5)
Assisted By: Caiya Hanks
GOAL by WAK Colton, Emily Assist by Hanks, Caiya.
64:07
