Demon Deacons Draw Wofford in Final Non-Conference Match

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Highlighted by an 80th minute equalizer from senior midfielder Cooper Flax, the Wake Forest men's soccer team (6-3-5, 1-3-2 ACC) drew its non-conference finale against Wofford (5-8-2, 1-2-0 SoCon) at Spry Stadium Tuesday evening, 2-2.

After a goalless first half, junior midfielder Jose Perez opened the scoring in the 50th minute with a strike from distance for his third goal of the season, all coming from outside the box. The goal came off assists from Tate Lorentz and Ethan Subachan.

The Terriers took the lead with goals in the 52nd and 57th minutes.

Flax equalized in the 80th minute with a nice, low-driven effort from just outside the box on an assist from redshirt junior Nico Rabiu.

The Dix Hills, N.Y., native now leads the team with 17 points on the year with six goals and five assists to his name, one ahead of Lorentz. Additionally, he is now tied for 20th in program history with 18 career goals.

How it Happened

Sarajian recorded the first shot of the evening in the first minute as he powered a low-driven attempt just wide.
The Terriers had their first attempt blocked in the sixth minute following a corner.
Mednard was called into action in the 12th minute, as a Wofford player fired a shot from distance which the keeper got a hand to and tipped it over the bar.
- This would mark the only shot on target for either side in the first half.
Lorentz won a couple of corners for the Deacs in the 13th and 14th minutes, but the hosts were unable to capitalize.
Perez and Debah had shots blocked in the 29th and 30th minutes, respectively, which ended up being the final two shots of the first half.
The two teams went into the break deadlocked at 0-0.
- Shots were even at four apiece and the Deacs' held 62 percent of the ball.
Wake Forest came out of the second half firing as Torbic had a shot blocked behind for a corner a minute in.
The opener came in the 50th minute after Perez rockered a shot that took a deflection and went into the back of the net.
- Subachan and Lorentz recorded assists on the strike.
The Terriers equalized two minutes later before taking the lead in the 57th.
The Demon Deacons increased the intensity searching for a response and won three corners within the 64th and 67th minutes, but were unable to find the final touch.
Umar was dangerous in the latter stages, drawing two free kicks resulting in cards for the visitors in the 73rd and 74th minutes.
The Deacs nearly found the equalizer in the 78th minute as White's shot from inside the box grazed the top of the woodwork.
Flax leveled the game two minutes later with a low, powerful shot into the bottom left corner following a cutback pass from Rabiu.
- This marked Flax's sixth goal of the season and his team-high 17th point on the year.
The Deacs and Terriers battled for the winning goal over the final 10 minutes of play, but neither team could find the back of the net as the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

13 separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the 31 goals scored so far this season, with Tate Lorentz and Cooper Flax leading the way with six apiece.
- Wake Forest's 31 goals this year ranks tied for 15th in the country and tied for third in the conference.
- The Deacs are also tied for fourth in the ACC in assists (28) and third in total points (90).
Flax scored his sixth goal of the season and first in open play, bringing his career totals to 18 goals and 51 points.
- His 18 goals put him tied for 20th in program history.
- He now leads the team with 16 points this season.
Perez scored his third goal of the year, all coming from outside the box, and now has five for his career.
Lorentz, Rabiu and Subachan all picked up assists on the night.
- Lorentz is second on the team with 16 points on six goals and four assists.

From Coach Muuss
"Disappointing. I thought we started the game well and generated some half chances and a couple of good looks. We dominated possession, and then we gave up some soft goals. We got a goal early in the second half, which I thought we needed in order to calm the game down. Less than five minutes later, we conceded out of nowhere. We then went down again off a square ball in the midfield, which we know is not in our attacking principles. We just continue to shoot ourselves in the foot. I give the guys a lot of credit for coming back and finding the equalizer against a team that was playing really deep and slowing the tempo of the game down every possible opportunity. I think we were a bit unlucky to find the game winner, but that's football. Unfortunately, the ball hasn't bounced our way as much as we want it to this season. We have to lick our wounds and take care of our bodies because we have a really good opponent in Pitt on Friday."

Up Next
The Deacs will now return to conference play on Friday, Oct. 24 when it travels north to take on Pitt. The match against the Panthers is slated for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra. This will mark just the seventh all-time meeting between the two schools with Wake Forest holding a 5-1-0 record against the Panthers dating back to the first meeting in 2013.

Wake Forest will then close out the regular season on Friday, Oct. 31 at home against Notre Dame, which will serve as the program's seniors and graduates night.

Wake Forest Athletics

Demon Deacons Draw Wofford in Final Non-Conference Match

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Cooper Flax

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