Wake Forest Primed for Final Road Test at Pitt

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In its penultimate match of the 2025 regular season, the Wake Forest men's soccer team will travel to Pitt for its final road test Friday night at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

The match against the Panthers is slated for 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra with live stats available here.

Quick Notes

Since 2015, Muuss has led the Deacs to a stellar 70-26-19 overall record against conference opponents (including postseason).
- Also under Muuss, Wake Forest is 110-19-13 against unranked opponents.
This will mark Wake Forest's fourth and final away test of the regular season, holding a 1-1-1 record on the road so far this season.
- Muuss' men have been road warriors since he took over, with the Deacs boasting a 38-18-11 record away from home since 2015.
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.
- Lorentz and Flax form one of the most productive duos in the ACC, combining for 12 goals and 33 points, which accounts for over one-third of Wake's total scoring output.
- Wake Forest's 31 goals this year ranks tied for 17th in the country and tied for fourth in the conference.
- The Deacs are also tied for fifth in the ACC in assists (28) and fourth in total points (90).
The Demon Deacons currently hold a plus-10 goal-differential in 2025, the sixth-best in the ACC.
Joel Torbic (State College) and Daniel Krueger (Philadelphia) will be returning to their home state Friday night.
Freshman star Alfred Debah recorded his first collegiate goal last Friday against Louisville following a brilliant touch, run and finish with just 28 seconds remaining in the first half.
In TopDrawerSoccer's National Top 100 Players list, Flax led the way for the Deacs at No. 55 followed by Travis Smith Jr. (No. 88) and Tate Lorentz (No. 94).
The Demon Deacons currently sit 10th in the ACC on five points as they look to make a push for a home game in the conference tournament (top eight).
- Additionally, both sides on Friday night will be looking to bolster their resume for NCAA tournament consideration with Wake Forest at 45th in RPI ahead of Pitt at 67th.

Elite Month for the Captain

Team captain Cooper Flax has turned in a stellar stretch of form this fall, powering Wake Forest's attack with a series of record-worthy performances.
Flax ignited his hot streak on Sept. 22 against Liberty, delivering his first career hat trick and adding an assist for a seven-point outing, the first by a Demon Deacon since Roald Mitchell's performance against Winthrop in 2022.
- His finishes included two early penalties—both earned by freshman Chandler Young—before he capped the hat trick with a curling free kick from outside the box in the 68th minute
The senior midfielder followed that up with another commanding display against Clemson (Sept. 26), converting a 13th-minute penalty before recording his first career multi-assist game, including helpers on both of Wake's subsequent goals
Flax stayed decisive on the road, netting his fifth goal of the season—again from the spot—in the 86th minute at California to secure a 2–1 victory
He then found the back of the net once more in the 80th minute against Wofford, salvaging a 2–2 draw to close non-conference play unbeaten
Now sitting on six goals and five assists for a team-high 17 points, Flax is tied with Tate Lorentz for the scoring lead and continues to rank among the ACC's elite in total points and goal contributions.
The 2024 All-American has now totaled 18 career goals, moving into a tie for 20th on Wake Forest's all-time scoring list
He also joins a select group of just three ACC players this season with at least six goals and five assists, joining Ransford Gyan (Clemson) and Alessandro Arlotti (Duke) underscoring his all-around impact as both scorer and creator.

The Hometown Kid

Winston-Salem native Tate Lorentz has enjoyed a breakout campaign since transferring to Wake Forest ahead of the 2025 season. The redshirt sophomore sits tied for the team lead in goals (6) while sitting second on the squad in points (16) — numbers that also place him among the ACC's top 10 in both categories.
Lorentz has been one of the most clinical finishers in the conference, converting six of just 17 total shots for an incredibly efficient .353 shot percentage, the best mark on the roster.
He's added four assists, highlighted by a five-point performance (2 G, 1 A) against UNCW on Sept. 16, his first-career brace and the highest single-match point total by any Deac this season outside of Cooper Flax's Liberty hat trick.
The former North Carolina Tar Heel has proven his knack for showing up in big moments and has been an incredible addition to the squad.

Series History

This will mark the seventh meeting between Wake Forest and Pittsburgh, with the Demon Deacons holding a 5-1-0 advantage in the all-time series.
- Wake Forest is 2-0-0 at Spry Stadium and 3-1-0 in road matches against the Panthers.
Wake Forest earned five-consecutive victories over Pitt from 2013 to 2021, including a 3-1 home win over the fifth-ranked Panthers in 2021 and four-straight clean sheet results from 2013 to 2019.
Pittsburgh claimed its first win in the series two years ago with a 3-0 result in Pittsburgh, snapping the Deacs' unbeaten run.
Muuss is 3-1-0 against his former mentor Jay Vidovich with wins in 2017, 2018 and 2021.
The Deacs have out-scored the Panthers, 13-to-4 over the six matches, with all four Pitt goals coming in the last two meetings.

Scouting the Panthers

Pitt enters the contest with a 5-6-3 overall record and a 1-4-1 mark in ACC play.
The Panthers snapped a four-match winless skid with a 4-2 home victory over Syracuse in their most recent outing on Oct. 18 for their first ACC win of the season.
All five of Pitt's victories this season have come at Ambrose Urbanic Field, where they hold a 5-1-3 record, while remaining winless (0-5-0) away from home.
Offensively, Pitt averages 1.29 goals per match and has been shutout five times this season.
Spanish forward Arnau Vilamitjana has been the breakout performer, leading the team with eight goals and three assists (19 points) — tied for third-most goals and points in the ACC. He recorded a brace against Michigan State earlier this year and netted a hat trick in the recent win over Syracuse.
- Albert Thorsen (2g, 3a), Lasse Dahl (2g, 1a), and Marco Silva (2g, 1a) are the only other Panthers with multiple goals this season.
Defensively, Pitt has conceded 21 goals (1.50 per game), with junior goalkeeper Jack Moxom starting every match. Moxom owns a .656 save percentage and three shutouts across more than 1,200 minutes of play.

Last Time Out (vs. Wofford)

Highlighted by an 80th minute equalizer from senior midfielder Cooper Flax, the Wake Forest men's soccer team drew its non-conference finale against Wofford 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.

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 158 total wins ranks No. 1 nationally, three 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 (363), six more than second-most Maryland (357).

Total Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	158
2.	Indiana	156
3.	Clemson	149
4.	Georgetown	141
5.	Stanford	138

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	59
3.	North Carolina	47
4.	Virginia	41
5.	Duke	40

Looking Ahead

After Friday night's match, Wake Forest will return to home as it hosts Notre Dame at Spry Stadium on Friday, Oct. 31 in the final regular season match of the season.
The match is slated for 7 p.m. and will serve as the program's senior and graduates night.
The clash will be streamed live on ACCNX.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alfred Debah

Cooper Flax

Daniel Krueger

Tate Lorentz

Roald Mitchell

Jose Perez

Nico Rabiu

Travis Smith Jr.

Ethan Subachan

Joel Torbic

Chandler Young

Wake Forest Athletics