Wake Forest Set for ACC Road Test at Cal

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In the third of four regular season road matches this season, the Wake Forest men's soccer team will travel to the west coast to take on Cal Saturday afternoon at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, Calif.

The match against the Golden Bears is slated for 6 p.m. eastern time and will be shown live on ACCNX with live stats available here.

Quick Notes

This will mark the first game in the pacific time zone for the Demon Deacons since the round of 16 clash against the Golden Bears
Since 2015, Muuss has led the Deacs to a stellar 69-26-18 overall record against ACC opponents (including postseason) as they look for their first conference win of the season.
- Also under Muuss, Wake Forest is 109-19-11 against unranked opponents and 37-18-11 in road matches.
This is just the third of four regular season road matches for the Demon Deacons, with a trip to Pittsburgh in two weeks awaiting the Deacs.
12 separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the 26 goals scored so far this season, with Tate Lorentz leading the way with six and Cooper Flax behind him with four.
- Wake Forest's 26 goals this year rank 12th in the country and fourth in the conference.
- The Deacs are also fifth in the ACC in assists (23) and fourth in total points (75).
The Demon Deacons currently hold a plus-nine goal-differential in 2025, the sixth-best in the ACC.
After a five-save performance last time out against Stanford, goalkeeper Jonah Mednard has now surpassed 30 stops on the year and is now third in the ACC with 32.

West Coast Bound

Saturday will mark Wake Forest's eighth game in program history played in the Pacific time zone and first since Nov. 26, 2005 in its 2-3 overtime loss at Cal in the NCAA tournament round of 16.
- Additionally, this will be the Deacs' sixth time playing in California.
The Demon Deacons are 3-3-1 in its previous seven games on the west coast, with their last win coming on Sept. 27, 1998 in a 2-1 upset over the No. 1-ranked Washington Huskies in Seattle.

Wake Forest's All-Time Games in the Pacific Time Zone

11/26/2005: 2-3 OT loss at Cal in the R16 (Berkley, Calif.)
9/27/1998: 2-1 win at Washington (Seattle, Wash)
9/25/1998: 0-3 loss vs. Portland (Seattle, Wash)
9/15/1996: 2-0 win at San Francisco (San Francisco, Calif.)
9/13/1996: 0-0 draw vs. Santa Clara (San Francisco, Calif.)
10/21/1990: 0-2 OT loss at UCLA (Los Angeles, Calif.)
10/19/1990: 3-2 OT win vs. San Diego State (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Series History

This will mark the fifth all-time meeting between Wake Forest and California, with the Golden Bears leading the series, 2-1-1.
The Demon Deacons are 0-1-1 against Cal in Winston-Salem, 0-1-0 in Berkeley, and 1-0-0 at neutral sites.
The two programs last met early in the 2023 campaign, battling to a 1-1 draw at Spry Stadium on Aug. 27.
- Prior to that, Cal earned a 4-1 victory in Winston-Salem in 2014 and a 3-2 overtime win in Berkeley during the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
Wake Forest's lone victory in the series came in the first-ever meeting between the sides, a 2-1 neutral-site triumph in 1993.
Of note, neither team has recorded a clean sheet in the four meetings.

Scouting the Golden Bears

California enters the weekend with a 4-5-2 overall record, including a 1-3-1 mark in ACC play so far in 2025.
The Golden Bears have yet to win at home this season, playing seven of their first 11 contests away from home where they've gone 4-3-0 compared to 0-2-2 in Berkeley.
Most recently, Cal dropped a 4-0 decision at SMU on Oct. 3 following back-to-back home losses to Syracuse and a draw against Duke.
Cal is averaging 1.09 goals per game, which ranks second-to-last in the ACC while conceding 1.64, the lowest in the conference.
Graduate forward Luka Lukic has led the line with five goals and one assist for a team-high 11 points.
- He's scored in five separate matches this season, including game-winners at both UCLA and Saint Mary's.
In support, sophomore forward Malcolm Zalayet and senior defender Alfredo Ortiz have each scored twice, while midfielder Kieran Bracken Serra leads the team with three assists.
- Of note, Ortiz was tabbed as Cal's ACC Preseason Player to Watch.
Between the posts, the Bears have split time among three goalkeepers with redshirt-senior Connor Lambe starting nine of the first 11 matches, logging over 580 minutes with a 2.00 goals-against average and a .618 save percentage.
- Senior Marco Brougher owns a 0.95 GAA and one clean sheet across three appearances, while junior Zack Andoh has contributed to a 2-0-1 record with five appearances off the bench.
The Golden Bears' lone conference victory came in a 2-0 result at Boston College on Sept. 7 and have won just once in their six outings since (1-0 at UNC Asheville).
Cal was picked to finish 12th in the conference this season after finishing in the same position last year in its inaugural ACC campaign.

Great Week for the Captain

Highlighted by a first-career hat trick for senior Cooper Flax, the midfielder put together an incredible week on the pitch two weeks ago against Liberty and Clemson.
Flax opened his account on the year against the Flames as he converted from the spot in the second and 16th minutes before completing the hat-trick in the 68th minute with a beautiful free kick from just outside the box to make it 6-0.
- This marked the 31st hat-trick in program history, the fourth under head coach Bobby Muuss and first since Roald Mitchell accomplished the feat against Furman on Sept. 4, 2023.
- The senior also added an assist on a goal in the 60th minute following his corner, making him the first Deac with seven points in a game since Mitchell did so against Winthrop on Sept. 6, 2022.
Flax continued his scoring ways into the Clemson match. The midfielder converted from the penalty spot for the third time in two games with the opener in the 13th minute and is now 7-for-8 from the mark over the last two years.
- He then went on to record the first multi-assist game of his career.
He finished his week with a stellar four goals and three assists over the two matches for 11 points.

The Hometown Kid

Following his beautiful strike against Clemson two weeks ago, Tate Lorentz extended his team lead in goals (six) and points (15).
Lorentz has been incredibly efficient with his shot selection as well, as he has scored his six goals on just 13 shots (46.2 percent).
Three weeks ago, he recorded his first-career brace against UNCW as he leveled the match in the 13th minute before firing the Deacs in front with a penalty he won in the 53rd.
Entering the Cal match, Lorentz is fifth in conference in points and goals.
Additionally, he is one of just four ACC players with six-or-more goals and three-or-more assists.

Last Time Out (vs. Stanford)

The Wake Forest men's soccer team fell to No. 3 Stanford at Spry Stadium Saturday night.
Wake Forest battled hard in the early stages of the match and would enter the half at a draw with the third-ranked Cardinal.
Despite the Demon Deacons' efforts out of the half, Stanford scored the opening goal of the night to take the lead in the 63rd minute before doubling the scoreline in the 86th minute.
In goal, redshirt sophomore Jonah Mednard recorded five saves to keep the Deacs in the match. The Congers, N.Y., native has now surpassed 30 saves on the season, as his 32 saves ranks fourth in the ACC.

National Leader In Wins

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 45-year history of the program.
Since 2015, Wake Forest's 157 total wins ranks No. 1 nationally, five more than any program and 10 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.
Wake Forest also leads the nation in wins over the last quarter-century (362), eight more than second-most Maryland (354).

Total Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	157
2.	Indiana	152
3.	Clemson	147
4.	Georgetown	139
5.	Stanford	136

ACC Dominance

In addition to leading the nation in wins and home wins under head coach Bobby Muuss, the Demon Deacons have consistently been atop the nation's best conference with three ACC Championships and five divisional championships.
Wake Forest also leads the ACC in regular season conference wins since 2015.

ACC Regular Season Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total ACC Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	56
2.	Clemson	49
3.	North Carolina	46
4.	Virginia	41
5.	Duke	40

Looking Ahead

After Saturday night's match, Wake Forest will return home as it hosts Louisville in the annual Genna Wiley Memorial Pink Match on Friday, Oct. 17.
The match against the Cardinals is slated for 7 p.m. and will be shown live on ACCNX.
The Deacs will wear special pink jerseys that will be auctioned off with all proceeds raised benefiting the Cancer Health Equity Patient Care fund at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
- Bidding is open now and fans can do so here.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

Roald Mitchell

Wake Forest Athletics