Wednesday, November 5
Dallas, TX
7 p.m. (ET)
Wake Forest University
7-4-6, 2-3-3
4
at
5
(7) SMU
8-4-4, 3-2-3
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Wake Forest
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SMU
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Demon Deacons Fall in First Round of the ACC Tournament
11/5/2025 10:21:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Wake Forest will now await their NCAA Tournament fate during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 17 at 11:30 a.m.
DALLAS, Texas – The No. 10-seed Wake Forest men's soccer team (7-4-6, 2-3-3 ACC) fell on the road to the No. 7-seed SMU (8-4-4, 3-2-3 ACC) at Washburne Stadium Wednesday evening during the first round of the ACC Tournament, 5-4.
Wake Forest opened the scoring just over three minutes into the match, as sophomore Harvey Sarajian hurled a long throw into the box before Flax connected perfectly and sent it through traffic into the back of the net.
After an SMU equalizer a minute later, the Deacs retook the lead in the 15th when Flax once again beat the keeper, this time on a beautiful free kick from 25 yards out.
Now sitting on nine goals and seven assists for 25 points with a brace tonight, Flax leads the team in the big three statistical categories and continues to rank among the ACC's elite in total points, goals and assists. He has recorded at least one goal contribution in four-consecutive games.
The 2024 All-American has now totaled 21 career goals, moving into a tie for 18th on Wake Forest's all-time scoring list with Geraint Davies (1986-89). He also moved into 20th all-time in career points with 59.
He is the only player in the ACC with nine goals and seven assists this season.
After falling behind 4-2 and going down to 10 men in the second half, the Deacs battled back with back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of regulation.
Redshirt junior Nico Rabiu cut the deficit in half in the 86th minute, as his powerful strike from outside the box found the top left corner. Less than two minutes later, sophomore Ryan Belal leveled the game with a tap-in on the goalline off assists from Rabiu and junior Jose Perez.
Despite the last-effort surge from Wake Forest, the Mustangs found an answer in the final minute of the match.
How it Happened
Demon Deacon Details of Note
From Coach Muuss
"Heart-wrenching. We played well in the first half. We dodged a lot of restarts, defended a lot of them, and unfortunately that was the Achilles heel tonight. All of their goals came on set pieces. But what can I say about this group? To be down two goals and a man with less than 11 minutes left to come back, shows a lot of resilience about the guys. It's not the season we wanted. I feel bad for the seniors. I have to learn from it. The team has to learn from it, but we move forward. I just want to thank all the seniors for all their work and effort that they've put in for the last four-to-six years. This is probably the toughest loss I've ever had."
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will now await their NCAA Tournament fate during the NCAA Selection Show. The Selection Show is slated for Monday, Nov. 17 at 11:30 a.m. and can be streamed live on NCAA.com.
Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and the Wake Forest Men's Soccer social accounts for updates over coming days on the NCAA tournament.
Wake Forest opened the scoring just over three minutes into the match, as sophomore Harvey Sarajian hurled a long throw into the box before Flax connected perfectly and sent it through traffic into the back of the net.
After an SMU equalizer a minute later, the Deacs retook the lead in the 15th when Flax once again beat the keeper, this time on a beautiful free kick from 25 yards out.
Now sitting on nine goals and seven assists for 25 points with a brace tonight, Flax leads the team in the big three statistical categories and continues to rank among the ACC's elite in total points, goals and assists. He has recorded at least one goal contribution in four-consecutive games.
The 2024 All-American has now totaled 21 career goals, moving into a tie for 18th on Wake Forest's all-time scoring list with Geraint Davies (1986-89). He also moved into 20th all-time in career points with 59.
He is the only player in the ACC with nine goals and seven assists this season.
After falling behind 4-2 and going down to 10 men in the second half, the Deacs battled back with back-to-back goals in the final five minutes of regulation.
Redshirt junior Nico Rabiu cut the deficit in half in the 86th minute, as his powerful strike from outside the box found the top left corner. Less than two minutes later, sophomore Ryan Belal leveled the game with a tap-in on the goalline off assists from Rabiu and junior Jose Perez.
Despite the last-effort surge from Wake Forest, the Mustangs found an answer in the final minute of the match.
How it Happened
- Wake Forest took an early lead right out of the gates, as Sarajian's long throw deflected into the path of Flax, who fired it into the bottom left corner of the net through traffic.
- The Mustangs equalized a minute later.
- After 10 minutes of no shots for either side, Flax regained the lead for the Deacs as he put a perfect free kick into the top right corner after drawing a foul about 25 yards out.
- Mednard recorded his first save of the evening in the 22nd minute.
- The two sides battled the remainder of the first half, but neither side found another before the break.
- SMU equalized in the 63rd minute.
- The Mustangs took the lead less than six minutes later.
- SMU extended their lead to 4-2 in the 72nd minute.
- The Demon Deacons went down a man after a red card was given to Flax in the 76th minute.
- Wake Forest came close to cutting the deficit with almost 10 minutes left to play, but Sarajian's header off a free kick was saved.
- Rabiu nearly grabbed a goal just a minute later, but his effort was also stopped.
- The Deacs made it a one-goal game in the 86th minute, as Rabiu found the top left corner on a powerful strike from outside the box.
- Wake Forest equalized less than two minutes later as Balal tapped in the game-tying goal off assists from Rabiu and Perez.
- Mednard made a game-saving save to keep out a close range header in the 89th minute.
- SMU scored with 52 seconds remaining to take the lead.
- Wake Forest fell 5-4.
Demon Deacon Details of Note
- 14 separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the 39 goals scored so far this season, with Cooper Flax leading the way with nine followed by Tate Lorentz with six.
- Lorentz and Flax form one of the most productive duos in the ACC, combining for 15 goals and 43 points, which accounts for over one-third of Wake's total scoring output.
- Wake Forest's 39 goals this year ranks tied for fourth in the country and second in the conference.
- The Deacs are also fifth in the ACC in assists (34) and second in total points (112).
- The Demon Deacons currently hold a plus-12 goal-differential in 2025.
- The Deacs have gone with a starting backline of Amoni Thomas, Daniel Krueger, Travis Smith, Jr, and Cristian Escribano over the last eight games.
- Smith (1,402) has the most minutes played out of all outfield players for the Deacs this season, while Thomas (1,213) has logged the third most minutes.
- Jose Perez has been a crucial piece for the Deacs this season at the six, scoring three goals this season and ranking second on the team in minutes with 1,248.
- Mednard, Perez, Smith, Thomas, Flax are the only Wake Forest players to have started all 17 matches this season.
- Rabiu had the first game of his career with multiple goal contributions with a goal and an assist late in the match to equalize.
- This brought his career totals to three goals and six assists.
- With his equalizer, Belal tabbed the sixth goal of his career on second of the season.
From Coach Muuss
"Heart-wrenching. We played well in the first half. We dodged a lot of restarts, defended a lot of them, and unfortunately that was the Achilles heel tonight. All of their goals came on set pieces. But what can I say about this group? To be down two goals and a man with less than 11 minutes left to come back, shows a lot of resilience about the guys. It's not the season we wanted. I feel bad for the seniors. I have to learn from it. The team has to learn from it, but we move forward. I just want to thank all the seniors for all their work and effort that they've put in for the last four-to-six years. This is probably the toughest loss I've ever had."
Up Next
The Demon Deacons will now await their NCAA Tournament fate during the NCAA Selection Show. The Selection Show is slated for Monday, Nov. 17 at 11:30 a.m. and can be streamed live on NCAA.com.
Stay tuned to GoDeacs.com and the Wake Forest Men's Soccer social accounts for updates over coming days on the NCAA tournament.
Team Stats
WFU
SMU
Goals
4
5
Shots
10
21
Shots on Goal
8
9
Saves
4
4
Corners
4
11
Fouls
17
12
Scoring Plays
Cooper Flax (9)
GOAL by WFU Flax, Cooper.
03:03
Stephan Soghomonian (10)
Assisted By: Ryan Clanton-Pimentel , Jaylinn Mitchell
GOAL by SMU Soghomonian, Stephan Assist by Clanton-Pimentel, Ryan and Mitchell, Jaylinn.
04:45
Cooper Flax (9)
GOAL by WFU Flax, Cooper.
14:48
Enzo Panozzo (1)
Assisted By: Charles-Emile Brunet
GOAL by SMU Panozzo, Enzo Assist by Brunet, Charles-Emile.
62:44
Slade Starnes (1)
Assisted By: Charles-Emile Brunet
GOAL by SMU Starnes, Slade Assist by Brunet, Charles-Emile.
68:23
Milton Lopez (7)
Assisted By: Charles-Emile Brunet , Mukisa Emmanuel
GOAL by SMU Lopez, Milton Assist by Brunet, Charles-Emile and Emmanuel, Mukisa.
71:33
Nico Rabiu (2)
Assisted By: Harvey Sarajian
GOAL by WFU Rabiu, Nico Assist by Sarajian, Harvey.
85:51
Ryan Belal (2)
Assisted By: Jose Perez , Nico Rabiu
GOAL by WFU Belal, Ryan Assist by Perez, Jose and Rabiu, Nico.
87:28
Landon Hickam (1)
Assisted By: Enzo Panozzo
GOAL by SMU Hickam, Landon Assist by Panozzo, Enzo.
89:06
Game Leaders
Shots
3
SOG
3
Goals
2
Assists
0
mid
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
1
fwd
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's SoccerMidfielder/Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
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