No. 17 Wake Forest Falls on the Road to Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. -- The No. 17-ranked Wake Forest women's soccer team (9-3-3, 3-2-2 ACC) fell to the Clemson Tigers (6-4-5, 3-3-2 ACC) Thursday night at Historic Riggs Field.

The Demon Deacons held the Tigers to just two shots during the first half and registered four of their own. Despite a quiet first half, Wake Forest generated multiple chances throughout the second half of the contest before Clemson scored the lone goal of the evening in the 72nd minute.

The Deacs held 61 percent of the possession Thursday night and outshot the Tigers, 13-9.

Continuing excellence in net, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Valentina Amaral surpassed 50 saves this season, with five in tonight's match against Clemson. Recently tabbed to TopDrawerSoccer's Midseason Top 100 National Players list, Amaral is now just one shy of 100 career saves.

Redshirt sophomore defender Sierra Sythe reached over 1,300 minutes on the backline, the most of any player in the outfield this season.

Freshman Kylie Maxwell and seniors Laine DeNatale and Alex Wood all made their 15th career starts. Freshman Elliana Ramirez made her 15th appearance this season in the 72nd minute.

Seven Demon Deacons went the full 90, including junior Sammi Wiemann for just the second time in her career.

How it Happened

Clemson came out of the match on the front foot and applied early pressure to the Deacs' backline.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Valentina Amaral grabbed her first save of the night in the 17th minute to keep the match scoreless.
In the 28th minute, Amaral made a stellar save and pushed the Tigers' opportunity high to keep the match even.
The Demon Deacons entered the locker room tied 0-0 and outshot Clemson 4-2 through the first 45 minutes.
With less than a minute into the second half, freshman Kylie Maxwell fired her first shot of the night, but the Clemson keeper was quick to make the save.
The Tigers responded quickly with a shot of their own in the 48th minute, which Amaral easily deflected.
Junior Sammi Wiemann saw a shot opportunity off a corner in the 57th minute, but was off target.
Senior Brooke Miller fired off a ball in the 66th minute but sent it wide of the net.
Clemson broke through in the 72nd minute to lead the match 1-0.
Miller recorded one final shot on goal in the 89th minute.
The Demon Deacons ultimately fell to the Tigers on the road, 1-0.

From Coach da Luz
"Our team played a solid ACC game. We were strong in so many areas but not sharp enough in attack. We have to find ways to create better scoring chances and be much better in 1v1 attacking situations. Valentina Amaral, Dempsey Brown, Sierra Sythe, Brooke Miller and Carly Wilson were all very good tonight. There are lists of positives to take from this game and we will carry them over to Thursday's game vs Pitt."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons return to Spry Stadium on Oct. 23 to face the Pitt Panthers during the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Match. The contest will be streamed on ACCNX with kickoff at 7 pm.

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Team Stats

Brooke Miller

Sierra Sythe

Kylie Maxwell

Dempsey Brown

Players Mentioned

Valentina Amaral

Dempsey Brown

Laine DeNatale

Kylie Maxwell

Brooke Miller

Elliana Ramirez

Sierra Sythe

Sammi Wiemann

Carly Wilson

Alex Wood

Wake Forest Athletics