No. 13 Wake Forest Set for Rivalry Match Against Clemson

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In a rematch of the 2024 ACC Championship that saw the Demon Deacons take the crown for the fourth time, the No. 13 Wake Forest men's soccer team will welcome Clemson to Spry Stadium Friday evening.

The match against the Tigers is slated for 6 p.m. and will be shown live on ESPNU with live stats available 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

Wake Forest holds the No. 13 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and sits at No. 7 and No. 11 in the TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News polls, respectively.
Since 2015, Muuss has led the Deacs to a stellar 69-24-18 record against conference opponents as they look for their first ACC win of the season.
- Additionally, Wake Forest is 109-18-11 during that time against unranked opposition.
The Demon Deacons are unbeaten in their last 19 matches at Spry Stadium with wins in 10 of the last 12.
- The Deacs hold a 14-0-5 home record dating back to Aug. 25 of last year.
Wake Forest has recorded five clean sheets in the first nine matches this campaign.
- The Deacs are first in the ACC with 32 saves this season with 26 from Jonah Mednard and six from Owen Barnett.
11 separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the 23 goals scored so far this season, with Tate Lorentz leading the way with five with Basit Umar and Cooper Flax sitting at three apiece.
- Three Wake Forest players opened their account on the year against Liberty on Monday night with Harvey Sarajian, Chandler Young and Flax finding the back of the net.
- Wake Forest's 23 goals this year rank third in the country and second in the conference.
Wake Forest was picked to finish second in the ACC preseason poll and held the most first-place votes (5).
The Demon Deacons currently hold a plus-12 goal-differential in 2025, the 11th-best in the nation and second-best in the ACC.
Over the first nine games of the season, Wake Forest ranks third in the conference and 10th nationally in shots per-game with 16.56).
- The Demon Deacons are out-shooting opponents 150-to-108.

Hat Trick Hero

Senior midfielder Cooper Flax recorded the first hat-trick of his career Monday night against Liberty in the 7-0 victory at Spry Stadium.
Flax opened his account on the year as he converted from the spot in the second and 16th minutes after freshman forward Chandler Young forced the Liberty keeper into two fouls in the box.
He completed the hat-trick in the 68th minute with a beautiful free kick from just outside the box to make it 6-0.
This marked the 31st hat-trick in program history, the fourth under head coach Bobby Muuss and first since Roald Mitchell accomplished the feat against Furman on Sept. 4, 2023.
The senior also added an assist on a goal in the 60th minute following his corner, making him the first Deac with seven points in a game since Mitchell did so against Winthrop on Sept. 6, 2022.

The Hometown Kid

With a goal and an assist on Monday night against Liberty, Tate Lorentz now leads the Demon Deacons in goals (five) and points (13).
Last week, he recorded his first-career brace against UNCW as he leveled the match in the 13th minute before firing the Deacs in front with a penalty he won in the 53rd.
Entering the weekend, Lorentz is third in conference in points and goals.
Additionally, he is one of just two ACC players with five-or-more goals and three-or-more assists along with Clemson's Gyan.

Series History

This will mark the 60th all-time meeting between the two rivals with the Demon Deacons leading the series, 27-22-10.
- Wake Forest holds a 9-5-3 mark against Clemson under the direction of head coach Bobby Muuss.
- The Deacs are 14-10-5 against the Tigers in Winston-Salem.
The two programs met three times last season, with the Demon Deacons defeating the Tigers in the ACC Championship match (Nov. 17) and advanced past them in the NCAA tournament (Dec. 1) after a 1-1 draw in regulation to book a trip to the Elite Eight.
- In the ACC Championship, Clemson took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute before Nico Rabiu found the equalizer 19 minutes later.
  - The match ended level at 1-1 after 120 minutes, Wake Forest then converted seven of its eight penalty attempts to clinch the trophy.
- The Tigers led 1-0 once again in the NCAA round of 16, but the Deacs found goals from freshmen Ryan Belal and Dylan Borso to advance to the quarterfinals.
The Demon Deacons will look to be the first team in the series to win back-to-back matches since the Deacs won five in a row from 2016-2019.
Clemson won the first eight meetings between the two programs from 1980-1987, but Wake Forest has a 27-14-10 record since.

Scouting the Tigers

Clemson enters the match with a 4-2-2 overall record, including a 2-0-1 mark in ACC play so far in 2025.
- Seven points sees them joint-top of the ACC standings with Virginia heading into Friday.
- This will mark just the third road match for Clemson so far this season following a pair of draws at Indiana and SMU earlier this season.
The Tigers are coming off of a 3-1 home victory over Cal last Friday (Sept. 19).
Last season, the squad went 15-3-4 overall and 5-2-1 in conference play before falling to the Deacs in the ACC championship and NCAA tournament round of 16.
- 16 points saw the Tigers finish second in the regular season conference standings.
Clemson was picked to finish first in the ACC Preseason Poll and sophomore midfielder Ransford Gyan was selected as its ACC Preseason Player to watch.
- So far this season, Gyan has bagged seven goals and added four assists for 18 total points on the year as he leads the team in all three categories.
- His seven goals and 18 points both rank second in the ACC.
In addition to Gyan, sophomore forward Wahabu Musah and senior midfielder Nathan Richmond have scored five goals apiece, tied for the third-most in the conference.
In goal, senior Joseph Andema has played every minute so far in 2025 and has posted a 1.25 goals-against average and a .667 save percentage.
- His lone clean sheet on the year came in the 6-0 victory over UAB on Aug. 29.

Last Time Out (vs. Liberty)

Highlighted by a first-career hat trick for senior midfielder Cooper Flax, the No. 1 Wake Forest men's soccer team returned to winning ways Monday night as it defeated Liberty, 7-0, at Spry Stadium in the team's annual We Are Wake mental health awareness green match.
Flax opened his account on the year as he converted from the spot in the second and 16th minutes after freshman forward Chandler Young forced the Liberty keeper into two fouls in the box.
He completed the hat-trick in the 68th minute with a beautiful free kick from just outside the box to make it 6-0. This marked the 31st hat-trick in program history, the fourth under head coach Bobby Muuss and first since Roald Mitchell accomplished the feat against Furman on Sept. 4, 2023.
The senior also added an assist on a goal in the 60th minute following his corner, making him the first Deac with seven points in a game since Mitchell did so against Winthrop on Sept. 6, 2022.
The preseason MAC Hermann Watch List honoree now has 15 goals and 13 assists in a Wake Forest uniform after leading the team with nine a season ago. It also marked his second-career game with multiple goals with his first coming against Virginia in the ACC semifinal last season (Nov. 14, 2024).
In the 24th minute, sophomore forward Harvey Sarajian scored his first goal in a Wake Forest uniform after taking a great touch and firing a powerful shot into the bottom left corner following a great ball from sophomore defender Amoni Thomas.
Less than five minutes into the second half, Young got his well-deserved goal after he pressured the Liberty keeper to launch it from 40 yards out of his own net, which then deflected off of the freshman and went into the back of the net. It marked the first goal of Young's career.
Lorentz added to the scoring in the 60th minute, converting a beautiful half volley off a Flax corner kick to make it 5-0. The Winston-Salem native now has a team-high five goals this season, as well as a team-best 13 points.
Junior Ethan Subachan tacked on the seventh goal for the Deacs in the 69th minute, as he stole the ball off a Liberty defender before slotting it into the bottom left corner for his second goal of the season.
This marked the first seven goal game for the Demon Deacons since they defeated Loyola (MD) 7-0 during the 2021 season.

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 157 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 (362).

Total Wins Since 2015

Rank	Team	Total Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	157
2.	Indiana	151
3.	Clemson	145
4.	Georgetown	137
5.	Stanford	134

The Spry Advantage

Since Muuss' arrival in 2015, Wake Forest ranks No. 1 nationally in home wins (116), 18 more than any other program nationally.
Wake Forest's home winning percentage of 82.55 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	116
2.	Clemson	98
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	82.55%
4.	Missouri State	79.79%
5.	Georgetown	79.66%

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 ACC Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	56
2.	Clemson	48
3.	North Carolina	45
4.	Virginia	40
5.	Duke	38

Looking Ahead

After Friday night's match, Wake Forest will have eight days off before it hosts Stanford at Spry Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4.
The match against the Cardinals is slated for 7 p.m. and will be shown live on ACCNX.
This will mark the first ACC clash between the two programs and Wake Forest will look to secure its first-ever win against Stanford, with the Cardinal leading the all-time series 5-0-0.

No. 13 Wake Forest Set for Rivalry Match Against Clemson

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Owen Barnett

Ryan Belal

Dylan Borso

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

Roald Mitchell

Nico Rabiu

Harvey Sarajian

Ethan Subachan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Chandler Young

Wake Forest Athletics

No. 13 Wake Forest Set for Rivalry Match Against Clemson

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Owen Barnett

Ryan Belal

Dylan Borso

Cooper Flax

Tate Lorentz

Jonah Mednard

Roald Mitchell

Nico Rabiu

Harvey Sarajian

Ethan Subachan

Amoni Thomas

Basit Umar

Chandler Young

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