No. 1 Wake Forest to Host Liberty Monday Night

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In its annual We Are Wake Mental Health Awareness green match, No. 1 Wake Forest returns to non-conference action Monday evening against Liberty at Spry Stadium.

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

We Are Wake Mental Health Awareness Match
The team will wear special green jerseys on Monday night in honor of mental health awareness and will be auctioned off in support of the Trinity Center. A Winston-Salem based organization, the Trinity Center is dedicated to meeting the needs of our community with the mission to improve lives by providing exceptional care with openness, hope and faith. Bidding is open now for the jerseys and will conclude at midnight Wednesday.

The proceeds from tonight's auction will support Trinity Center's Financial Aid program, which provides low-cost therapy for people who are uninsured and underinsured. Fans are able to bid here.

Important Fan Information
The safety and well-being of our student-athletes, coaches, staff, and fans is Wake Forest University's top priority. In coordination with University leadership and law enforcement partners, Wake Forest Athletics has implemented enhanced safety measures for events in Kentner and Spry Stadiums and Varsity Arena to match those at our Allegacy Stadium district venues. These include:

Walkthrough metal detection at all fan entry points.
Elevated law enforcement and gameday staff presence at each venue.
Adjusted entry procedures at Spry Stadium, including a secured perimeter along Polo Road and a designated single entry point for fans wishing to watch from the Hill.

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.

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.

Quick Notes

For the first time since Oct. 3, 2022, Wake Forest holds the No. 1 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Poll as well as the Top Drawer Soccer poll.
- It marks the 26th time under head coach Bobby Muuss the Deacs have held the top spot.
Since 2015, Muuss has led the Deacs to a stellar 94-16-10 record against non-conference opponents including a 4-0-2 mark this season.
- Additionally, Wake Forest is 108-17-11 during that time against unranked opposition.
The Demon Deacons are unbeaten in their last 18 matches at Spry Stadium with wins in nine of the last 11.
- The Deacs hold a 13-0-5 home record dating back to Aug. 25 of last year.
Wake Forest has recorded four clean sheets in the first eight matches this campaign with a starting backline of Cristian Escribano, Travis Smith, Jr., Mason Sullivan and Amoni Thomas.
- The Deacs are tied for first in the ACC with 27 saves with 24 from Jonah Mednard and three from Owen Barnett.
Eight separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the 16 goals scored so far this season, with Tate Lorentz leading the way with four with Basit Umar sitting at three following his brace at Virginia on Friday night.
- Of note, nine Deacs have tallied at least one assist this season with the squad's 16 on the year ranking fifth in the ACC.
Wake Forest was picked to finish second in the ACC preseason poll and held the most first-place votes (5).
Over the first eight games of the season, Wake Forest ranks third in the conference in shots (16.88) and sixth in shots on-goal (6.13) per game, while out-shooting opponents 135-96 (49-38 on-goal).

The Hometown Kid

Notching his first-career brace last Tuesday night against UNCW, Tate Lorentz now leads the Demon Deacons in goals (four) and points (10).
He became the first Demon Deacon with a brace since Cooper Flax did so in the ACC semifinal last season against Virginia (Nov. 14).
He leveled the match in the 13th minute before firing the Deacs in front with a penalty he won in the 53rd.
The Winston-Salem native also added the assist on Jeffrey White's goal in the 63rd minute to put the Deacs up 3-1.
Entering the weekend, Lorentz is one of just 24 players nationally with 10 points already this season and one of just five to do so in the ACC.

Series History

This will mark the eighth meeting between the two programs with Wake Forest leading the all-time series, 4-2-1.
The two sides have only met twice in the 21st century, both coming under Muuss.
- The Flames earned a 1-0 double overtime win in 2021 before the Demon Deacons picked up a 3-1 victory in 2023.
- Current Demon Deacons Cristian Escribano and Vlad Walent recorded assists in the 2023 matchup.
The first-ever meeting came in 1980 in a 2-1 overtime win for the Demon Deacons.

Scouting the Flames

Liberty enters the match with a 4-1-1 overall record, including a 1-0-1 mark at home so far in 2025.
Similar to the Demon Deacons, the Flames are coming off of their first loss of the season following its 3-1 home defeat to No. 21 UNCG on Friday.
- Liberty went into the break level at 1-1, but two second-half strikes from the Spartans secured victory for the visitors.
Last season, the squad went 7-7-3 overall and 5-3-2 in conference play before falling to Incarnate Word in the OVC quarterfinals.
- 17 points saw the Flames finish fourth in the regular season conference standings.
Liberty was picked to finish fourth once again in the OVC Preseason Poll and sophomore midfielder Aidan Morrison was selected as the Flames' OVC Preseason Player to watch.
- So far this season, Morrison has bagged three goals and added an assist for seven total points on the year, the fourth-most on the team.
Junior defender Kelly Lucas leads the team with four goals in 2025 to go along with an assist for nine total points.
Despite losing their 2024 leading goalscorer, Michael Huss (11 goals), the Flames already have four players with three or more goals in 2025.
- Of note, they only had three with three-plus goals last season.
In goal, sophomore Tyler Beck has played every minute so far in 2025 and has posted three clean sheets.
- Beck has conceded six times for a 0.86 goals-against average and has made 24 saves for a .800 save percentage.

Last Time Out (at Virginia)

The No. 1 Wake Forest men's soccer team fell for the first time in 2025 with a 6-3 defeat at Virginia Friday evening at Klöckner Stadium.
The Demon Deacons found the back of the net in the 75th and 79th minutes with strikes from senior midfielder Basit Umar.
Umar's first goal was a long-ranged strike before completing his first-career brace four minutes later as he tapped in a good ball across the face of goal from redshirt junior Nico Rabiu. It marked Rabiu's first assist of the season and fourth of his career.
- Umar now has 12 career goals to his name with seven coming in a Wake Forest uniform.
Sophomore forward Harvey Sarajian rocketed a shot off a Virginia defender and into the back of the net in the 88th minute for the Deacs' third and final goal of the evening.
The Demon Deacons registered 19 shots on the night, including four from Umar and three from junior midfielder Jose Perez.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Owen Barnett played the entire second half for a career-high 45 minutes in his second appearance and finished the night with three saves.

Battle Tested

The Demon Deacons face one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season due to the strength of the ACC.
No. 1 Wake Forest has three opponents on the upcoming schedule that are currently ranked inside the top 15 in No. 3 Stanford, No.12 Louisville and No. 14 Clemson.
Of note, the ACC holds the top three spots in the top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches poll with six 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 156 total wins ranks No. 1 nationally, five 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	136
5.	Stanford	132

The Spry Advantage

Since Muuss' arrival in 2015, Wake Forest ranks No. 1 nationally in home wins (115), 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 82.65 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	115
2.	Clemson	97
3.	Indiana	97
4.	Virginia	89
5.	Georgetown	87

Home Winning Percentage Since 2015

Rank	Team	Home Winning Percentage Since '15
1.	Indiana	83.46%
2.	Denver	83.33%
3.	Wake Forest	82.65%
4.	Missouri State	79.79%
5.	Clemson	79.66%

Looking Ahead

After Monday night's match, Wake Forest will return to ACC play as it takes on rival Clemson at Spry Stadium on Friday, Sept. 19.
The match against the Tigers is slated for 6 p.m. and will be shown live on ESPNU.
This will be a rematch of last season's ACC championship in which the Deacs claimed their third ACC crown under head coach Bobby Muuss.

Wake Forest Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Owen Barnett

Cristian Escribano

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

Jose Perez

Nico Rabiu

Harvey Sarajian

Mason Sullivan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Vlad Walent

Jeffrey White

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