No. 4 Demon Deacons Open ACC Play with Point on the Road at No. 21 North Carolina

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In the first ACC contest and first road match of the 2025 campaign, the No. 4 Wake Forest men's soccer team (4-0-2, 0-0-1 ACC) earned a point in a 1-1 draw against No. 21 North Carolina (3-1-2, 0-0-2 ACC) on Friday evening.

The Demon Deacons got on the board in the 22nd minute, as junior midfielder Jose Perez rocketed his second outside-the-box goal of the season from around 30-yards out on an assist from junior Jeffrey White. However, North Carolina increased the pressure in the second half and netted the eventual equalizer in the 67th minute off a corner kick.

Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Jonah Mednard recorded a career-high-tying six saves over the 90 minutes in addition to cutting out a few dangerous crosses. Before the Tar Heel goal, the Deacs went 523 minutes without conceding.

So far this season, Mednard has posted a 0.34 goals-against average and a .882 save percentage with just two goals allowed.

Wake Forest has started unbeaten through six matches for the third time under Muuss, with the previous two instances coming in 2018 and 2022.

The Demon Deacons are now 7-2-2 in conference openers under head coach Bobby Muuss and 4-2-2 when opening on the road. Additionally, after facing the No. 21-ranked Tar Heels, the Demon Deacons are now 48-23-16 against ranked foes in the Muuss era.

How it Happened

After a few minutes of the two sides feeling each other out, Umar logged the first shot of the evening in the ninth minute from outside the box, but it was straight at the North Carolina keeper.
- The Tar Heels responded a minute later with an off-target shot.
Junior midfielder Jose Perez put the Demon Deacons ahead 1-0 in the 22nd minute, as he let off an attempt from outside of the 18 that was originally pushed up by the Carolina keeper before crossing the line.
- With the goal, Perez has now scored twice this season matching his production from a year ago.
- Fellow junior Jeffrey White set up the goal, as the Orlando, Fla., native now has contributed two assists on the campaign.
The two sides continued a physical battle throughout the first half as neither team was able to create a chance.
Debah had a decent look to make it 2-0 in the 38th minute and notch his first-career goal, but the keeper had his near post covered.
The Tar Heels called Mednard into action for the first time with two minutes remaining in the first half, as the Demon Deacon keeper corralled it in a diving stop.
Wake Forest went into the break leading, 1-0.
- The Deacs held a 3-to-1 shots-on-goal advantage over the first 45 and controlled a majority of the ball.
North Carolina had a chance early in the second half, but Mednard parried away a powerful shot from a Tar Heel forward to keep the 1-0 advantage.
The Heels continued to put pressure on the Deacs in the second half with eight shots in the first 15 minutes, but the Deacs withstood the waves of attack and kept North Carolina out.
- Krueger made a crucial block as the last defender in the 59th minute.
- Mednard made three saves during that span.
North Carolina found the equalizer in the 67th minute.
The Deacs almost went back in front in the 69th following a great free kick from Perez forced the keeper to tip it over the bar for a corner.
Mednard made another solid diving stop with 17 minutes to go to keep it level.
Both sides pushed for a winner in the final stages, but the match ultimately ended level at 1-1.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

With the draw, the Demon Deacons are 38-17-11 on the road in 11 seasons under head coach Bobby Muuss.
The Demon Deacons are now 7-2-2 in conference openers under head coach Bobby Muuss and 4-2-2 when opening on the road.
Jonah Mednard recorded a career-high-tying six saves Friday night.
- Mednard holds a .882 save percentage and .34 goals-against average for his career.
Cristian Escribano made his 60th career appearance.
Ethan Subachan made his 40th career appearance.
Daniel Krueger and Ryan Belal both made their 25th career appearance.
Joel Torbic made his 20th career appearance.

From Coach Muuss
"We grinded out a point here on the road in the best soccer conference in the country. I think the guys are a little bit disappointed, because we had a lead, but they can't be disappointed with the way the game went. I thought we started the second half over the first five or six minutes pretty well, but then they had us on the ropes. I give North Carolina a lot of credit, but I'm also extremely frustrated with where we turned the ball over and how we turned the ball over. It's uncharacteristic, but I do think a lot of it had to do with some fatigue. I don't want to make excuses, but guys are tired. We had a battle on Tuesday. They were fresher than us, and I have to do a better job to prepare for this Tuesday."

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

No. 4 Demon Deacons Open ACC Play with Point on the Road at No. 21 North Carolina

Next Event

Team Stats

Jose Perez

Jeffrey White

Basit Umar

Vlad Walent

Players Mentioned

Ryan Belal

Cristian Escribano

Daniel Krueger

Jonah Mednard

Jose Perez

Ethan Subachan

Joel Torbic

Jeffrey White

Wake Forest Athletics

No. 4 Demon Deacons Open ACC Play with Point on the Road at No. 21 North Carolina

Related News

Next Event

Team Stats

Game Leaders

Jose Perez

Jeffrey White

Basit Umar

Vlad Walent

Players Mentioned

Ryan Belal

Cristian Escribano

Daniel Krueger

Jonah Mednard

Jose Perez

Ethan Subachan

Joel Torbic

Jeffrey White

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