Demon Deacons Drop Home Conference Opener to Clemson

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 13 Wake Forest men's soccer team (5-2-3, 0-2-1 ACC) dropped a home ACC contest to Clemson (5-2-2, 3-0-1 ACC) at Spry Stadium Friday night.

Coming off of his first-career hat-trick on Monday night against Liberty, senior Cooper Flax continued his scoring ways into Friday's match. The midfielder converted from the penalty spot for the third time in two games with the opener in the 13th minute and is now 7-for-8 from the mark over the last two years.

After two quick goals from the visitors, in-form forward Tate Lorentz found an equalizer in the 25th minute with a beautiful strike from the edge of the box with assists from Flax and junior Ethan Subachan.

The Tigers led once again in the 30th minute, but Wake Forest responded 10 minutes later by way of a headed goal from defender Daniel Krueger following a set piece on assists from Vlad Walent and Flax. It marked Krueger's second-career goal and first at Spry Stadium.

Of note, Flax has logged four goals and three assists over the last two outings for 11 points. The 2024 All-American now has 16 goals to go along with 15 assists in his career and his 47 points are the most out of all active Wake Forest players. It also marked the first multi-assist game of his career.

Meanwhile, Lorentz extended his team lead in goals (six) and overall points (15). The Winston-Salem, N.C.-native is third in the conference in goals and points and is one of just two ACC players with six-or-more goals and three-or-more assists along with Clemson's Gyan.

The Tigers found the winner in the 72nd minute.

The Demon Deacons have now scored three or more goals in three consecutive matches for the first time since the 2021 season, when the Deacs scored three goals against George Washington (10/12) and Virginia Tech (10/16), and seven against Loyola Maryland (10/19).

Wake Forest's 26 goals this year rank first in the country at the conclusion of Friday's match with 12 separate Demon Deacons finding the back of the net at least once.

How it Happened

Both teams threatened with dangerous final third entries in the first three minutes, but neither side was able to get a shot off.
The Demon Deacons opened the scoring in the 13th minute as Flax converted from the spot for the third time this week.
- Flax won the penalty after his attempt from outside the box was blocked by a Clemson defender's hand.
Clemson found a response a minute later and equalized.
The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the 21st minute.
Four minutes later, however, Wake Forest would find an equalizer from Lorentz as he curled it into the top left corner from the edge of the box.
- Flax and Subachan picked up assists on the strike.
The eventful first half continued as Clemson once again took the lead in the 30th minute.
After 10 more minutes of back-and-forth action, the Demon Deacons found another equalizer five minutes before the break, this time from the head of Krueger.
- The set-piece expert Flax placed a beautiful ball into the box which Walent knocked back across the goal for Krueger to head home.
Wake Forest had the final two attempts of the first 45 with shots from Perez and Flax rounding out an electric first half.
The two sides went into the locker rooms level at 3-3.
- The Deacs controlled 58 percent of the ball in the first half with the two teams even at seven shots apiece.
- With two assists and a goal, Flax had 11 points in his last three halves of soccer.
The first save of the night went to Mednard in the 49th minute.
Sarajian had the first Demon Deacon shot of the second half as he drove into the box before his attempt was blocked behind for a corner.
The Tigers had a few more opportunities over the opening stages of the second half before Sarajian had another chance in the 67th minute.
Clemson scored its fourth with 18 minutes to play.
The Deacs upped the pressure and found multiple dangerous scoring opportunities as the final whistle neared, but were unable to find the equalizer.
Wake Forest fell to Clemson, 4-3.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

With a goal and two assists on the night, Cooper Flax has recorded four goals and three assists over the last two outings for 11 points.
- He now has 16 goals to go along with 15 assists in his career and his 47 points are the most out of all active Wake Forest players.
- It marked the first multi-assist game of his career.
Hometown hero Tate Lorentz extended his team lead in goals (six) and overall points (15) following his first-half strike.
- He is now third in the conference in goals and points and is one of just two ACC players with six-or-more goals and three-or-more assists along with Clemson's Gyan.
Daniel Kruger scored his second-career goal with the late first-half equalizer.
- His first goal came last season at UNCW on Oct. 15, 2024.
Vlad Walent and Ethan Subachan both recorded their first assists of the season.
- Walent now has eight for his career while Subachan reached five.
12 separate Demon Deacons have contributed to the 26 goals scored so far this season, with Tate Lorentz leading the way with six.
- Wake Forest's 26 goals this year rank first in the country at the conclusion of Friday's match.

From Coach Muuss
"Disapointing result and disappointing performance in front of a great crowd. I said to the guys at halftime that we had a great crowd and we had a lack of energy. We have to stop leaking goals, especially against good teams. I thought Clemson's mid-block was really good. We ran out of some ideas. I thought we could have played a little bit more direct. We have to learn from our individual and collective mistakes, myself included."

Up Next
Wake Forest will now 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.

Next Event

Team Stats

Cooper Flax

Daniel Krueger

Tate Lorentz

Vlad Walent

Players Mentioned

Cooper Flax

Daniel Krueger

Tate Lorentz

Ethan Subachan

Vlad Walent

Wake Forest Athletics