No. 4 Wake Forest to Open Conference Play at No. 21 North Carolina

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Looking to start its defense of the 2024 ACC Championship, No. 4 Wake Forest men's soccer is set to begin conference play as it takes on No. 21 North Carolina Friday evening at Dorrance Field.

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

For the first time ever, the match will also have an audio broadcast on the Wake Forest Gameday App.

Pregame Event
All parents, men's soccer alumni and fans attending the game are welcome to join the Deacon Club at Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery before the match. It'll be a great chance to connect with fellow members of the Wake Men's Soccer community before heading over to cheer on the Deacs.

Details

Where: Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery - Chapel Hill, N.C.
When: 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Host: Pete Hines '91, P '25

Quick Notes

The Demon Deacons are 7-2-1 in conference openers under head coach Bobby Muuss and 4-2-0 when opening on the road.
- Last season, the Deacs battled to a 1-1 draw at home against Virginia (9/13).
This will mark the first ranked opponent for the Demon Deacons this season, with head coach Bobby Muuss holding a 4723-15 record against ranked foes with the Deacs.
The Demon Deacons head into the first road match of 2025 holding a respectable 37-17-10 away record under Muuss.
Wake Forest has only allowed one goal this campaign, which is tied for the fewest goals allowed through five games in the Muuss-era.
- Additionally, it is the fewest goals allowed for the Demon Deacons through five matches since 2008.
- Goalkeeper Jonah Mednard has conceded just once in his career with 451 total minutes in goal with two clean sheets. He holds a .900 save percentage and a .20 goals-against average.
- It has been 367 minutes since the Deacs last conceded (83' vs. UCF).
Wake Forest will look to start unbeaten through six matches for the third time under Muuss, with the previous two instances coming in 2018 and 2022.
Eight separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the nine goals scored so far this season, with Tate Lorentz leading the squad with two.
- Of note, eight Deacs have tallied an assist already in 2025.
The Demon Deacons currently hold the No. 4 spot in the United Soccer Coaches' preseason poll while also landing at No. 3 and No. 6 in the TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News polls, respectively.
Wake Forest was picked to finish second in the ACC preseason poll and held the most first-place votes (5).
The Deacs have out-shot all five opponents so far this season and hold an overall shots advantage of 89-to-41.

Series History

This will mark the 51st meeting between the Big Four rivals with North Carolina leading the all-time series, 24-16-10.
- Under head coach Bobby Muuss, the Deacs hold a 6-2-0 record over the Tar Heels with a plus-four goal differential.
The two programs did not meet in 2024, but battled twice in 2023 as the Deacs earned a 1-0 home win on Oct. 14 before falling to the Tar Heels in the ACC tournament on Nov. 5.
Wake Forest has not lost in Chapel Hill since Oct. 8, 2010 and holds a 2-0-1 away record against North Carolina since then.
The first-ever meeting came in 1980 in a 3-1 road defeat for the Demon Deacons.

Scouting the Tar Heels

North Carolina enters the match with a 3-1-1 record (0-0-1 ACC), including a perfect 3-0-0 mark at home so far in 2025.
- The Tar Heels began their ACC campaign last Friday (Sept. 5) in a 0-0 draw on the road at NC State.
Last season, the squad went 9-4-5 overall and 4-3-1 in conference play before falling in the first round of both the ACC and NCAA tournaments to Cal and Furman, respectively.
The Tar Heels brought in 16 newcomers in 2025 with seven transfers and eight freshmen, while returning just 18 percent of goal production (6-of-33) and 40 percent of assists (8-of-20).
- The two most notable outfield returns for North Carolina are sophomore forward Bertil Rygaard Hansen (three goals and two assists in 2024) and graduate midfielder/defender Andrew Czech (six assists in 2024).
Perhaps the most crucial returner in 2025 is senior goalkeeper Andrew Cordes, who has started 53 matches throughout his career with a .83 goals-against average and a 27-14-12 record and 21 clean sheets.
Graduate transfer Nacho Abeal from SIU-Edwardsville has made his presence felt immediately in Chapel Hill, as he has tallied two goals and two assists in his first five matches for the Tar Heels for a team-high six points.
Freshman forward Ryan Dugan has come off of the bench to score against UCF and Evansville so far this campaign.
North Carolina was picked to finish seventh in the ACC Preseason Poll and Czech was selected as the Tar Heels' ACC Preseason Player to watch.

Last Time Out (vs. Campbell)

In the final of five-straight home matches to open the 2025 campaign, the No. 4 Wake Forest men's soccer team will head into conference play unbeaten as it defeated Campbell, 1-0, Tuesday evening at Spry Stadium.
After 15 minutes of dominating the contest, the Demon Deacons found the opener in the 18th as sophomore defender Mason Sullivan headed home a brilliant ball in from senior midfielder Basit Umar. It marked the first-career goal for Sullivan as Umar and fellow senior midfielder Cooper Flax picked up assists on the tally.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jonah Mednard contributed to his fourth-consecutive clean sheet. So far this season, Mednard has posted a 0.21 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage with just one goal allowed.
For the fifth-consecutive match to open the season, Wake Forest went with a starting backline of junior Travis Smith, Jr., sophomores Mason Sullivan and Amoni Thomas, and graduate captain Cristian Escribano.
The Demon Deacon defense once again excelled in limiting opportunities for the visitors and only allowed one shot on goal over the 90 minutes. Wake Forest has outshot opponents 89-to-41 through the first five matches of the season.
Additionally, this marks the first time since Oct. 1-12 (four matches) of last year that the Demon Deacons recorded four-consecutive clean sheets. Of note, the Deacs have gone 367 minutes without conceding.

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 four opponents on the upcoming schedule that are currently ranked inside the top 20, including No. 2 Clemson, No. 6 Louisville and No. 8 Stanford.
Of note, the ACC holds five spots in the top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches poll and eight in the top 25.

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 155 total wins ranks No. 1 nationally, six 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 (361).

Total Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	156
2.	Indiana	150
3.	Clemson	144
4.	Georgetown	135
5.	Stanford	131

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

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

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 Home Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	56
2.	Clemson	47
3.	North Carolina	45
4.	Virginia	38
5.	Duke	37

Looking Ahead

After Friday night's match, Wake Forest will return to non-conference action as it hosts UNCW at Spry on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
The match against the Seahawks is slated for 7 p.m. and will stream live on ACCNX.

No. 4 Wake Forest to Open Conference Play at No. 21 North Carolina

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cristian Escribano

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

Mason Sullivan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Wake Forest Athletics

No. 4 Wake Forest to Open Conference Play at No. 21 North Carolina

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Cristian Escribano

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

Mason Sullivan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Related Videos