No. 6 Wake Forest to Officially Open the 2025 Season Against UCF

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Following the cancellation of its originally-scheduled season opener against Maryland on Thursday, the No. 6 ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team will officially begin the 2025 campaign on Sunday evening as it hosts UCF at Spry Stadium.

The match against the Knights is slated for 7 p.m. and will stream live on ACC Network Extra. Live stats will be available here.

Fan Information
Parking is encouraged in lots A, B, Q, W1 & W2. A complete parking map of campus is here.

Gates open one hour prior to kickoff for all home matches.

Season Ticket Information
2025 Wake Forest soccer season and single game tickets are on-sale now giving fans the opportunity to witness The Best Fan Experience In North Carolina from a number of unique seating options!

Adult season tickets start as low as $70 for general admission and $50 for youth while reserved chairbacks are $130 for fans and $110 for Wake Forest University faculty and staff.

Fans can catch all of Demon Deacon home action this fall as well by purchasing combo season tickets to see both men's and women's soccer starting as low as $90 for general admission and $180 for reserved chairbacks for fans and $150 for Wake Forest University faculty and staff.

Accessibility Information
Wake Forest Athletics strives to provide content at games, social media and on GoDeacs.com that is accessible to all people. In the continued effort to improve accessibility of the technology and digital content at tomorrow's game, fans can access closed captions here for the public address announcer and in-venue content.

Wake Forest Athletics is always open to learning about new ideas and ways we can improve. Please report accessibility challenges, identify content you find inaccessible, or give us general feedback at pantagw@wfu.edu.

The Matchup

Wake Forest has won the season opener in 35 out of its 44 seasons and seven out of 10 times under the helm of Bobby Muuss.
The Demon Deacons enter the match ranked No. 6 in the United Soccer Coaches' preseason poll, No. 2 in the TopDrawerSoccer poll and No. 4 in the College Soccer News poll.
Wake Forest was recently picked to finish second in the ACC preseason poll and held the most first-place votes (5).

Series History

The Demon Deacons enter the contest unbeaten all-time against the Knights (4-0-1) including a perfect 4-0-0 record at Spry Stadium.
This will serve as the return match from last year's 1-1 draw in Orlando on Aug. 31.
- After going down a goal in the 54th minute, Wake Forest battled back and responded with a 77th-minute equalizer courtesy of Pariss Mitchell with his first-career goal for the Deacs.
Over the five matches between the two schools, Wake Forest has outscored UCF, 14-to-2, and earned three clean sheets.
- The first two matches (2004 and 2006) resulted in a pair of 5-0 home wins for the Demon Deacons.
Head coach Bobby Muuss holds a 2-0-1 record against the Knights.

Scouting the Knights

UCF opened the season with a 3-1 defeat against North Carolina on Thursday evening.
- The Knights took a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute with a strike from Lilian Ricol, but the Tar Heels equalized five minutes later and added two more goals in the second half to secure the victory.
Last season, UCF posted a 7-6-3 record (5-4 SBC) with a 1-4 mark on the road and lost in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament.
Returning for his senior season, forward Clarence Awoudor led the Knights in points (13) and assists (seven) a season ago to go along with three goals.
In goal, UCF brings back senior Juanvi Munoz after a shortened 2024 season due to injury.
- Munoz has made 38 career starts for the Knights, posting seven clean sheets and a 1.3 goals-against average.
New to the team are three 2024 DII All-American transfers in forward Frederic Benedix (Coker), midfielder Hugo Vien (Limestone) and forward Claudel N'goubou (Limestone).

Demon Deacons Preseason Honors

Cooper Flax
- MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List
- United Soccer Coaches Midfielder to Watch
- ACC Preseason Player to Watch
- TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Players - No. 11
- TopDrawerSoccer Best XI - First Team
Harvey Sarajian
- United Soccer Coaches Midfielder to Watch
- TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Players - No. 38
Travis Smith Jr.
- TopDrawerSoccer Best XI - Second Team
- TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Players - No. 32

2024 Season Highlights

The Demon Deacons claimed their fourth ACC Championship and third under 10th-year head coach Bobby Muuss in a thrilling 7-6 PK result against Clemson on Nov. 17. This came after Wake Forest opened the ACC Tournament with a comeback victory against Syracuse, erasing a late 2-0 deficit against SMU to advance in PKs and then tallying the largest victory over Virginia in program history with a 5-1 result in the semifinals.
Wake Forest extended its conference-best mark for ACC regular season victories since 2015 to 55 with four wins this season. The Deacs' 55 ACC regular season victories are nine more than any other program.
The Demon Deacons will be the only program with more than 100 home victories since the start of the 2015 season, finishing the 2024 campaign with nine wins at Spry.
The Deacs' 152 victories over the last decade are also most in the country, leading Indiana (145) and Clemson (141).
A talented group of seniors and graduates left behind a legacy on and off the field, as the group helped lead the Demon Deacons to 63 victories, including four-straight NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2023 ACC Atlantic Division title while extending nationally-best marks for total wins, home wins and ACC regular season wins for the program over the last decade.
- The 2023 ACC Atlantic Division title marked Wake Forest's fifth during the 10-year divisional format, most in the ACC.
Between September and October, the Demon Deacons rattled off a seven-match unbeaten stretch with ACC victories over Syracuse, Boston College and Virginia Tech along with non-conference wins against ETSU and UNCW. During that stretch, Wake Forest also recorded 0-0 draws with Wofford and then-No. 16 Duke.
- The 2-1 comeback victory over Syracuse marked the first time either program has won on the road in the all-time series, as the Deacs scored in the 78th and 80th minutes.
- The shutout against Duke's high-octane offense marked the first time the Blue Devils were held scoreless at home since a 2-0 decision against Clemson on Nov. 6, 2022.
Wake Forest registered its first comeback victory being down 2-0 for the first time since Sept. 3, 2006, as the Demon Deacons erased a two-goal halftime deficit to defeat Central Arkansas 3-2 on Aug. 25.
Wake Forest is now 10-0-0 in Genna Wiley Memorial Matches under head coach Bobby Muuss, as the Demon Deacons defeated Virginia Tech 2-1 on Oct. 19.
- The Deacs wore special pink jerseys with $3,355 raised to benefit the Cancer Health Equity Patient Care fund at Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.

Veteran Presence In 2025

Wake Forest brings back 19 players from a season ago, including 67 percent (24 of 36) of goals and 57 percent (16 of 28) percent of assists.
Notable Returners:
- Cooper Flax, Midfielder, Senior
  - The only field player to start all 24 matches during the 2024 season, leading the Demon Deacons in points (19), goals (nine) shots (63) and shots on goal (26).
  - 2024 United Soccer Coaches Third-Team All-American
  - 2024 United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-South Region
  - 2024 ACC All-Tournament Team Selection
  - 2024 All-ACC Second-Team Selection
  - 2024 TopDrawerSoccer Top 100 Players (No. 42)
- Basit Umar, Midfielder, Senior
  - Appeared in 22 matches with 16 starts, recording 10 points from four goals and two assists in 2024.
  - Led the Deacs with three-game-winning goals.
  - Started the final 16 matches of the season.
- Ryan Belal, Forward, Sophomore
  - Appeared in 19 matches with one start in 2024.
  - Finished tied for second on the team in goals (four).
- Travis Smith Jr., Defender, Junior
  - Appeared in 22 matches with 21 starts in 2024.
  - Played numerous positions on the Deacs' backline.
  - Recorded 1,718 minutes of action.
  - Played 90 or minutes nine times and contributed to six Demon Deacon clean sheets.
- Amoni Thomas, Defender, Sophomore
  - Appeared in 20 matches with 13 starts in his debut season.
  - Recorded 1,310 minutes of action and logged three assists against Elon.
  - Started four postseason matches including Wake Forest's ACC Tournament Championship against Clemson.
- Cristian Escribano, Defender, Graduate
  - Returning for sixth season after missing most of last season due to injury
  - Team captain for third-straight year

New Kids On The Block

New to the roster this season are 7 freshmen and three transfers, as Wake Forest's 2025 incoming class ranked No. 10 nationally in TopDrawerSoccer's final recruiting rankings.
Transfers In: 3
- Harvey Sarajian, Midfielder/Forward, Sophomore (From Georgia Southern)
  - Appeared in every match for the Eagles and started in 16 of them
  - Tied for second on the team with four goals
  - Led the team in assists and tied for third in the Sun Belt with six assists
  - 2024 United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region Second-Team Selection
  - 2024 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year
  - 2024 All-Sun Belt First-Team Selection
  - 2024 TopDrawer Soccer Top 100 Freshman (No. 22)
  - 2024 TopDrawerSoccer Freshman Best XI Second-Team
- Ethan Subachan, Forward, Junior (From Louisville)
  - Appeared in 16 of 17 matches his sophomore year, starting 15 of them
  - Logged three goals and three assists in 2024 with the Cardinals
- Tate Lorentz, Midfielder/Forward, Junior (From North Carolina)
  - Winston-Salem native, attended Mount Tabor High School.
Freshmen: 7
- Alfred Debah, Midfielder (No. 79)
- Chandler Young, Midfielder/Forward (No. 161)
- Copeland Berkley, Defender (No. 179)
- John Di Stefano, Goalkeeper
- Lorenze Currie, Defender
- David Nguema, Midfielder
- Bret Russsell, Defender/Midfielder

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 152 total wins ranks No. 1 nationally, seven more than any program and 11 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 (357), nine more than second-most Maryland.

Total Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	152
2.	Indiana	145
3.	Clemson	141
4.	Georgetown	133
5.	Stanford	127

Consecutive Seasons With 10+ Victories

Rank	Team	Consecutive seasons with 10+ wins
1.	Wake Forest	13
2.	Indiana	11
3.	Georgetown	8
T4.	Clemson, Missouri State, Marshall	6
7.	Denver, Duke	4

The Spry Advantage

Since Muuss' arrival in 2015, Wake Forest ranks No. 1 nationally in home wins (111), 17 more than any other program nationally.
Over the last 10 seasons, the Deacs have won at least eight of their matches at Spry Stadium including a double-digit win total seven of those seasons.
Wake Forest's home winning percentage of 82.4 percent since 2015 also ranks third nationally, behind only Indiana and Denver.

Home Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total Home Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	111
2.	Clemson	94
3.	Indiana	93
4.	Virginia	87
5.	Georgetown	84

Home Winning Percentage Since 2015

Rank	Team	Home Winning Percentage Since '15
1.	Denver	83.7%
2.	Indiana	83.6%
3.	Wake Forest	82.4%
4.	Georgetown	80.4%
5.	Missouri State	79.9%

Consistent Threat In The Toughest Conference In The Country

Recognized annually as the toughest soccer conference in the country from top to bottom, the ACC has placed the most teams in the NCAA Tournament each of the last 12 seasons and has had at least five teams earn a bid 24-straight seasons.
During the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the ACC earned nine bids including seven national seeds.
Wake Forest has received an NCAA Tournament bid 14-straight seasons, eight years more than any other ACC program.

Rank	Team	Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearances
1.	Wake Forest	14
T2.	Clemson & Pitt	6
4.	North Carolina	5
5.	Duke	4
T6.	Virginia, Stanford & SMU	3

Looking Ahead

After Sunday, Wake Forest will return to the pitch on Thursday, Aug. 28 as it welcomes Oral Roberts at Spry Stadium.
- This will mark the first-ever matchup between the two schools.
- It will also be Wake Forest's first official match against an Oklahoma school, having faced Tulsa in an exhibition earlier this year.
Kick-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the match will be the first of a doubleheader with women's soccer scheduled to take on USF at 8 p.m.
- Both matches will be streamed live on ACCNX.

No. 6 Wake Forest to Officially Open the 2025 Season Against UCF

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ryan Belal

Copeland Berkley

Lorenze Currie

Alfred Debah

John Di Stefano

Cristian Escribano

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Pariss Mitchell

David Nguema

Harvey Sarajian

Travis Smith Jr.

Ethan Subachan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Chandler Young

Wake Forest Athletics

No. 6 Wake Forest to Officially Open the 2025 Season Against UCF

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ryan Belal

Copeland Berkley

Lorenze Currie

Alfred Debah

John Di Stefano

Cristian Escribano

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Pariss Mitchell

David Nguema

Harvey Sarajian

Travis Smith Jr.

Ethan Subachan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Chandler Young

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