No. 5 Wake Forest Set to Host Oral Roberts

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Looking to build off of its season-opening victory over UCF on Sunday, the No. 5-ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team will welcome Oral Roberts to Spry Stadium on Thursday evening.

The match against the Golden Eagles is slated for 5:30 p.m. and will be the first of a doubleheader with women's soccer taking on USF at 8 p.m. Both matches will stream live on ACC Network Extra and 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

The Demon Deacons enter the contest unbeaten in their last 13 matches at Spry Stadium with wins in each of the last six.
- The Deacs hold a 10-0-3 home record dating back to Aug. 25 of last year.
- This will be the first road test for Oral Roberts this season after opening the season at home.
Wake Forest will look to start 2-0-0 for the seventh time under head coach Bobby Muuss as they take on the Golden Eagles Thursday night.
Head coach Bobby Muuss has a perfect 4-0-0 record all-time against Oral Roberts, all during his time at Denver, with 12 goals scored and zero allowed over the four matches.
Earlier this week, the Demon Deacons rose to No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches' preseason poll while also holding No. 2 spot in the TopDrawerSoccer poll and No. 4 spot 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

This will be the first meeting between the two programs and the first official match between Wake Forest and a school from Oklahoma.
- The Demon Deacons met Tulsa in an exhibition earlier this season.

Scouting the Golden Eagles

Oral Roberts travels to Winston-Salem after an 0-1-1 weekend at home to start the campaign.
- The Golden Eagles opened with a 2-2 draw against Cal State Fullerton before dropping their match against CSUN, 0-1.
The Golden Eagles only retained 19 percent (5-of-27) of their goal production from a season ago, with sophomore midfielder Benjamin Morgan the only player on the 2025 roster that scored multiple goals at Oral Roberts last season (three).
In goal, junior Jakub Grzesiak was named the starter after earning three appearances last season in a backup role.
In the opener against Cal State Fullerton, Emilio Cazares (2' - penalty) and Emmanuel Denis (17') got on the scoresheet for Oral Roberts before two late goals from the visitors.
- Of note, all three goals conceded by the Golden Eagles this season have come in the final 10 minutes of the match (82', 82', 86').

Last Time Out (vs. UCF)

The Wake Forest men's soccer team opened the 2025 season on a high note, defeating UCF, 2-1, Sunday evening at Spry Stadium.
After a goalless first half that saw the Demon Deacons out-shoot the Knights, 9-4, the Deacs broke the deadlock with two goals during the final 15 minutes of the match.
Sophomore Ryan Belal opened the scoring for Wake Forest in the 75th minute, capitalizing on a cutback from senior Basit Umar on the end line for his fifth-career goal. The goal came after Umar picked it off a UCF defender.
The Deacs doubled their lead seven minutes later as junior midfielder Jeffrey White carried the ball from midfield before unleashing a rocket into the top left corner from just outside the box for the second tally of his career.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jonah Mednard earned his first-career start in goal for the Demon Deacons, recording six saves in the win.
In the midfield, junior Jose Perez shined across 81 minutes of action in front of the centerback duo of sophomore Mason Sullivan and Travis Smith, Jr., who both went the full 90.
Eight players made their Demon Deacon debuts as transfers Tate Loretnz, Harvey Sarajian and Ethan Subachan joined sophomore Jojo Davila and freshmen Alfred Debah, Chandler Young, David Nguema and Copeland Berkley.
With the win, the Demon Deacons remained unbeaten all-time against the Knights at 5-0-1, including a perfect 5-0-0 record at home. Additionally, Wake Forest has now won eight of head coach Bobby Muuss' 11 season openers with the program.

Battle Tested

The Demon Deacons face one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season due to the strength of the ACC.
Wake Forest has six opponents on the schedule that are currently ranked inside the top 20, including No. 3 Pitt, No. 4 Stanford and No. 6 Clemson.
Of note, the ACC holds six spots in the top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches poll and 10 in the top 20.

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

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 153 total wins ranks No. 1 nationally, seven more than any program and 12 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 (358), nine more than second-most Maryland.

Total Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	153
2.	Indiana	146
3.	Clemson	141
4.	Georgetown	133
5.	Stanford	128

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 (112), 18 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 82.52 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	112
T2.	Clemson	94
T2.	Indiana	94
4.	Virginia	88
5.	Georgetown	84

Home Winning Percentage Since 2015

Rank	Team	Home Winning Percentage Since '15
1.	Indiana	83.74%
2.	Denver	83.68%
3.	Wake Forest	82.52%
4.	Missouri State	79.89%
5.	Georgetown	79.65%

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 Thursday night's match, Wake Forest will remain at Spry for three more non-conference clashes before hitting the road for the first time on Sept. 12 to take on North Carolina in the ACC opener.
Next up, the Demon Deacons will welcome St. John's to Spry Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.
- The match will be streamed live on ACCNX.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Ryan Belal

Copeland Berkley

Lorenze Currie

Jojo Davila

Alfred Debah

John Di Stefano

Cristian Escribano

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

David Nguema

Jose Perez

Harvey Sarajian

Travis Smith Jr.

Ethan Subachan

Mason Sullivan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Jeffrey White

Chandler Young

Wake Forest Athletics