Deacs Down NC State, Stay Perfect at Home

Sunday, October 4

Winston-Salem, N.C.

5 p.m.

Wake Forest University

10-1-0, 3-1-0

NC State

9-2-2, 2-2-1

Team	1	2	Final F
NC State	0	1	1
Wake Forest	1	2	3

PDF Box Score

Photo by: Eklavya Chawla / Wake Forest Athletics

10/4/2026 9:16:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Box Score Season Stats

Wake Forest moves to 23-games unbeaten at Spry Stadium.

By: Kaitlyn Stocum

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Highlighted by a fifth game-winning goal for Sierra Sythe, the No. 4 Wake Forest women's soccer team (10-1-0, 3-1-0 ACC) defeated NC State (9-2-2, ACC 2-2-1), Sunday night at Spry Stadium.

With tonight's win, the Deacs move up to third in the conference standings with nine points.

The Demon Deacons took an early lead, as sophomore forward Allie Flanagan capitalized on a rebound from graduate student forward Henley Tippins. Tippins marked her 10th career assist on the opening strike. The Wolfpack stayed aggressive, but the Deacs headed into the break with a 1-0 lead.

NC State equalized in the 47th minute, leaving Wake Forest to respond. Redshirt-junior defender Sierra Sythe found the winner in the 72nd minute, converting her fourth penalty kick of the year. Sythe has now totaled seven goals and five game-winners in 2026, leading the conference and top-five in the country.

The Deacs found their momentum off the captain's goal, as they extended their lead in the 76th minute. Sophomore forward Allie Flanagan played a beautiful ball to junior midfielder Lola Ressler who chipped the ball in high right.

Ressler brings her career goals to eight and season goals to four, matching her single season goal total from 2025. Additionally, with an assist on the goal, sophomore midfielder Riley Cross brings her career total assists to seven, and four this season.

The Spry Advantage
The Deacs have posted a stellar 33-3-9 record at home since the start of 2022, with its lone loss over the past three seasons coming against No. 1 Duke in 2024. Tonight's win brings the Deacs to a 23-game unbeaten streak at Spry Stadium.

Brick Wall Amaral
Across 51 appearances and 47 starts, redshirt-junior Valentina Amaral has positioned herself as one of the top goalkeepers in the country. Her performances in net have led to 18 individual career shutouts, six combined shutouts and 32 wins. In 2024, she finished the season with the best goals-against average in program history at 0.69 and her results since then have spoken for themselves. This season, Amaral leads the conference with a 0.51 GAA, 0.853 save percentage.

Player (Year Played)	Career Goals Against Average
Valentina Amaral (2023-present)	0.77
Aubrey Bledsoe (2010-13)	0.91
Laura Morse (2006-09)	0.94
Amanda Barasha (2007-10) Kaitlyn Parks (2020-23)	1.01

How It Happened

Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Valentina Amaral caught early action, recording a save in the third minute of the contest.
Action remained neck-and-neck through the opening stages of the match.
Wake Forest took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute.
- Sophomore Allie Flanagan struck on a second chance opportunity set up by graduate student Henley Tippins.
In the 34th minute, senior defender Sammi Wiemann took the ball away from the NC State forward, permitting the Pack from a shot opportunity.
Wake Forest led 1-0 at the half, with shots 7-4 in favor of the Deacs.
NC State equalized in the 47th minute.
The Demon Deacons looked for a scoring opportunity in the 54th minute off a corner, but Flanagan sent the goal high of the net.
Wake Forest took a one goal lead in the 72nd minute from a converted penalty kick.
- Redshirt-junior Sierra Sythe beat the keeper on the high right to net her fifth PK of the season
Junior midfielder Lola Ressler extended the Deacs' advantage four minutes later.
- Sophomore midfielder Riley Cross played the ball into zone, finding Flanagan open to send a ball in front of the net.
- Ressler stretched to send the ball into the top right corner.
NC State looked for opportunities in the final minutes with corners in the 79th and 80th minutes.
The Demon Deacons defeated the Wolfpack, 3-1.

Demon Deacon Details to Note

Sythe marked her fifth game-winning goal of the season in the 72nd minute.
- The defender leads the ACC, tied with NC State's Jade Bordeleau and North Carolina's Bella Devey.
Senior defender Sammi Wiemann made her 20th career appearance.
Sophomore forward Kylie Maxwell made her 30th career appearance.
Sythe, Zadeyan and Wiemann went the full 90.

From Coach da Luz
"We were a little rusty from the two weeks off as expected. NC State is an excellent team and gave us a difficult challenge. We had some good stretches but were most effective on counterattacks to Kylie and Allie, providing two crosses for assists. Allie finished the first goal well. Happy for Dempsey and Valentina to win on their senior night! They mean so much to our program. Being 3-1 in the ACC and 10-1 overall puts us closer to our goal of a championship."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons return to the Sunshine State for a battle with the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday, Oct. 10th. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on ACCNX.