10 Demon Deacons Land on 2025 All-ACC Academic Team

1/29/2026 3:59:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Cooper Flax and Travis Smith, Jr. both earned the honor for the third time.

By: Dylan Shackelford

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a year that saw the highest combined GPA in program history at 3.44, 10 Wake Forest men's soccer student-athletes were named to the All-ACC Academic Team, as announced by the league office Thursday afternoon.

This marks the fourth-straight year the program has had 10 or more selections. Additionally, this is the third ACC All-Academic Team selection for Travis Smith, Jr and Cooper Flax, while it was the second nomination for Daniel Krueger, Amoni Thomas, Joel Torbic, Basit Umar and Vlad Walent.

Academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team include a 3.0-grade point average for the previous two semesters and 3.0 cumulative average during one's academic career, while being enrolled at the institution for at least one year and being classified as an undergraduate student.

In addition, student-athletes must compete in at least 50 percent of their team's athletic contests.

Cooper Flax, Sr., Communication**

Was named an All-American for the second-consecutive season (Second Team)
Earned First Team All-ACC honors
Tabbed First Team All-South Region
Landed on the MAC Hermann Midseason Watch List
Was named the team MVP
Started all 17 matches in a standout senior campaign
Led the team in the three main offensive categories with nine goals, seven assists and 25 points, all of which ranked inside the top 10 in the ACC
Had a stellar seven-point outing against Liberty with a hat-trick and an assist and earned man of the match honors (9/22)
Added a goal and two assists in the next match against Clemson (9/26) as he finished the week with four goals and three assists
Had a brace in the ACC Tournament on the road against SMU (11/5)

Daniel Krueger, So., Undeclared*

Scored his second-career goal and first against an ACC opponent in the match against Clemson (9/26)
Recorded his first-career assist in the draw against Louisville (10/17)
Made an instant impact after returning from injury, appearing in 14 matches with eight starts
Logged 886 minutes on the pitch
Went the full 90 in six of his eight starts
Contributed to five clean sheets

Jose Perez, Jr., Communication

Finished the campaign with a career-high three goals
Opened his account on the year with a banger from outside the box against Oral Roberts which saw him named man of the match (8/28)
Helped Wake Forest secure a point on the road with a goal against No. 21 North Carolina (9/12)
Added his third goal of the year against Wofford (10/21)
One of four outfield players to start all 17 matches
Logged 1,237 minutes on the pitch
Went the full 90 on three occasions

Travis Smith, Jr., Health and Exercise Science**

One of four outfield players to have started all 17 matches for the Demon Deacons
Landed on TopDrawerSoccer's preseason Best XI second team
Earned spots on TopDrawerSoccer's preseason and midseason Top 100 players list
Went the full 90 on 10 separate occasions
Led all outfield players with a total of 1,400 minutes on the pitch
Contributed to six clean sheets

Mason Sullivan, So., Undeclared

Scored his first-career goal with the lone strike in the victory over Campbell (9/9) and won man of the match honors
Made 15 appearances with nine starts
Started the first eight matches and helped the Demon Deacons record four clean sheets during that span
Contributed to six clean sheets overall

Amoni Thomas, So., Undeclared*

Led all Wake Forest defenders with four assists
Had the first multi-assist game of his career with two against UNCW (9/16)
One of four outfield players to have started all 17 matches for the Demon Deacons
Went the full 90 on six occasions
Logged 1,214 total minutes on the pitch
Contributed to six clean sheets

Joel Torbic, So., Undeclared*

Won the team's Most Improved Player award
Earned man of the match honors against Wofford (10/21) and carried that momentum on the road against Pitt with another standout midfield performance (10/24)
Made his first-career start in the regular season finale against Notre Dame and helped the Deacs to a 3-0 victory over the Irish (10/31)
Made 16 appearances with two starts
Logged 538 minutes, over doubling his action from his freshman campaign
Assisted a goal in the 2-0 victory over Oral Roberts (8/28)
Also started the ACC Tournament match against SMU (11/5).

Basit Umar, Sr., Communication*

Finished the season with four goals and three assists
Opened his account on the year with a strike against Lipscomb (9/5) and won man of the match honors
Appeared in all 17 matches with 15 starts
Started the season with at least one goal contribution in five of the first eight matches
Recorded a brace on the road at Virginia (9/19)
Helped Wake Forest secured three points at Cal with a first-half goal (10/11).

Vlad Walent, Sr., Health and Exercise Science*

Scored a penalty on his senior night en route to a 3-0 win in the regular season finale against Notre Dame and earned man of the match honors (10/31)
Appeared in all 17 matches, starting one
Logged 582 minutes on the pitch
Recorded an assist in the 7-0 victory over Liberty (9/22)

Chandler Young, Fr., Undeclared

Made 11 appearances with four starts
Made collegiate debut off the bench in the season-opening victory over UCF (8/24)
Earned first-career start against Lipscomb (9/5)
Started three-consecutive matches against Virginia (9/16), Liberty (9/22) and Clemson (9/26)
- Scored first-career goal in the victory over the Flames
Won two penalties on the year, both being converted by teammate Cooper Flax