Demon Deacons Battle to Draw Against Louisville

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Highlighted by the first-career goal for freshman star Alfred Debah, the Wake Forest men's soccer team (6-3-4, 1-3-2 ACC) battled to a 1-1 draw against Louisville (5-5-3, 1-5-1 ACC) at Spry Stadium Friday evening in the program's annual Genna Wiley Memorial Match.

Debah's strike came after a brilliant ball from sophomore defender Daniel Krueger, as the freshman took a perfect touch and dribbled it just outside the box before letting it rip into the bottom left corner of the net.

The tally was scored just 28 seconds before the half as Debah became the 13th separate Demon Deacon to record a goal this season. Additionally, it was Krueger's first assist at the collegiate level and his second goal contribution this season, following his goal against Clemson.

Debah is also the second Wake Forest freshman to score this season, joining Chandler Young.

The Cardinals found an equalizer in the 69th minute.

The Demon Deacons finished the match with a 19-to-12 advantage in shots and a 5-to-2 edge in shots on-goal. Additionally, Wake Forest controlled 62 percent of the ball.

With the point, Wake Forest now sits on five points with two conference matches left to play and moved up to 10th in the standings.

Genna Wiley Memorial Match
The Deacs wore special pink jerseys that are being 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 will run until midnight tonight.

Of note, Wake Forest remained unbeaten (10-0-1) in Genna Wiley Memorial Matches under head coach Bobby Muuss.

How it Happened

White had the first chance of the contest in the third minute with a counter attack, but it was blocked by a Louisville defender.
- Sarajian had a shot of his own blocked a minute later.
The Cardinals had the next five shots of the match between the seventh and 10th minutes, but neither attempt tested Mednard.
The first shot on target for either side came in the 23rd minute, when Perez forced the Cardinal keeper into a save following a free kick from distance.
Flax had a free kick of his own dribble just wide of the post after taking a deflection in the box a minute later.
Wake Forest held a 6-5 edge in shots and held 56 percent of the ball over the first 25 minutes of action.
Subachan came inches away from scoring against his old side with a nice curled effort from just inside the 18 missing just left in the 42nd minute.
Rabiu won Wake Forest its first corner of the night two minutes before the break.
The Demon Deacons found the breakthrough just 28 seconds before the interval, as Krueger played a brilliant ball to Debah, who had a great touch and run before firing it into the bottom left corner for the first goal of his collegiate career.
Wake Forest took the 1-0 lead into the locker room.
- The Deacs had a 9-6 shots advantage over the first 45 and held 61 percent of possession.
Out of the break, Debah continued to be a threat as he dropped a Louisville defender in the box and fired off another shot, this time stopped by the keeper.
Less than a minute later, Mednard was called into action for his first save of the night on the other end.
Louisville found an equalizer in the 69th minute.
Sarajian nearly responded two minutes later as his low-driven effort missed barely right.
The Demon Deacons pushed for the winner but were unable to put the ball in the back of the net as the match ended 1-1.

Man of the Match - Alfred Debah

Alfred Debah scored his first collegiate goal just 28 seconds before the break and continued to be a threat throughout the contest, nearly finding the back of the net again just seconds into the second half after dropping a Louisville defender.
His goal helped secure a point for the Demon Deacons.
He is the 10th Wake Forest player to win man of the match this season:
- August 24 vs. UCF: Jeffrey White
- August 28 vs. Oral Roberts: Jose Perez
- August 31 vs. St. John's: Jonah Mednard
- September 5 vs. Lipscomb: Basit Umar
- September 9 vs. Campbell: Mason Sullivan
- September 12 vs. North Carolina: Cristian Escribano
- September 16 vs. UNCW: Tate Lorentz
- September 22 vs. Liberty: Cooper Flax
- October 11 at Cal: Harvey Sarajian
- October 17 vs. Louisville: Alfred Debah

Demon Deacon Details of Note

With the point, Wake Forest now sits on five points with two conference matches left to play and moved up to 10th in the standings.
13 separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the 29 goals scored so far this season, with Tate Lorentz leading the way with six and Cooper Flax behind him with five.
- Wake Forest's 29 goals this year rank 13th in the country and fourth in the conference.
- The Deacs are also fourth in the ACC in both assists (25) and in total points (83).
Smith, Jr. made his 40th career start.
Rabiu made his 40th career appearance.
Sarajian made his 30th collegiate appearance.
Mednard made his 15th career appearance.
Krueger recorded his first career assist and his fifth-career point.

From Coach Muuss
"It's awesome that this memorial match has been able to continue. It was incredible to see Steve [Wiley] beforehand. I gave him a big hug and said to him that this match started in 2007 and we're this many years since Genna's passing and we are still honoring her and still telling the guys the story of Genna, Steve and the rest of the Wileys and what they meant to the program. That's incredible. It shows you how incredible of a family they were.

There's probably plenty of teams in the ACC that would be happy with grabbing a point. We are not one of them. We initiated the tempo from start to finish. We played against an opponent that tried to slow down that tempo whenever possible. Extremely disappointed not to get the game winner or keep a clean sheet. Credit to Louisville. They kept fighting and got a goal later in the match to tie it up. I'm disappointed that we couldn't get the second, but I thought we showed signs of the proper football that we want to play. I think we have to look more at the positives of today rather than the negatives. We needed three points, we wanted three points and we came away with one. One team is probably leaving the game happier than the other, and we're not the happier one."

Up Next
Wake Forest will remain at home as it hosts Wofford in the final non-conference match of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The match against the Terriers is slated for 7 p.m. and will be shown live on ACCNX.

The Deacs will return to conference play on Friday, Oct. 24 when it travels north to take on Pitt at 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Alfred Debah

Daniel Krueger

Harvey Sarajian

Jeffrey White

Players Mentioned

Alfred Debah

Cristian Escribano

Cooper Flax

Daniel Krueger

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

Jose Perez

Harvey Sarajian

Mason Sullivan

Basit Umar

Jeffrey White

Chandler Young

Wake Forest Athletics