No. 5 Wake Forest Grabs Fifth-Straight Shutout to Wrap Home Non-Con Slate

Saturday, August 29

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7 p.m.

Wake Forest University

5-0-0, 0-0-0

Portland

1-3-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Portland	0	0	0
Wake Forest	1	1	2

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh / Wake Forest Athletics

No. 5 Wake Forest Grabs Fifth-Straight Shutout to Wrap Home Non-Con Slate

8/29/2026 10:58:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score PDF Box Score Season Stats

Sophomore forward Allie Flanagan tallied her first goal of the season in the 73rd minute.

By: Kaitlyn Stocum

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- In its final home non-conference contest, the No. 5 Wake Forest women's soccer team (5-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) maintained its spotless record with a 2-0 victory over the Portland Pilots (1-3-0, 0-0-0 WCC), Saturday night at Spry Stadium.

With yet to allow a goal this season, the Demon Deacons are the only team in the country to have five wins and zero goals conceded. Additionally, tonight's victory marks the five-straight shutout of the season, and extends Wake Forest' s unbeaten record at home to 21 games, dating back to October 2024.

Despite a few early off-target attempts from the Pilots, the Deacs soon picked up pace and settled into the game. Wake Forest took the lead in the 40th minute, after a foul drawn by junior forward Chloe Burst in the box set redshirt-junior Sierra Sythe up for a penalty kick.

The goal marked her second of the season, and extended her point scoring streak to two games, with her game-winning strike against Old Dominion.

The Demon Deacons went into the locker room with the lead, and remained on top until the end. With multiple Deacs adding offensive pressure onto the Pilots, they soon went up by two. Sophomore forward Allie Flanagan picked the ball up at the halfway line and drove down the lane, netting her first goal of the season in the 73rd minute.

Wake Forest's backline defended well into the final minutes, with redshirt-junior goalkeeper Valentina Amaral tallying two saves against the Pilots and securing her 17th career shutout.

The Spry Advantage
The Deacs have posted a stellar 31-3-9 record at home since the start of 2022, with its lone loss over the past three seasons coming against No. 1 Duke in 2024. In 2025, Wake Forest finished the season with a 8-0-3 record at Spry, highlighted by a 1-1 draw with No. 1 Notre Dame to close the home regular season slate.

Brick Wall Amaral
Across 46 appearances and 42 starts, redshirt-junior Valentina Amaral has positioned herself as one of the top goalkeepers in the country. Her performances in net have led to 17 individual career shutouts, five combined shutouts and 27 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.

Player (Year Played)	Career Goals Against Average
Valentina Amaral (2023-present)	0.84
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

The Pilots found early chances through the Wake Forest defense, calling redshirt-junior goalkeeper Valentina Amaral into action in the third minute.
The Demon Deacons pressed into Portland's defensive end, with senior forward Henmley Tippin recording the first on target attempt of the night in the 8th minute.
In the 20th minute, sophomore midfielder Riley Cross dribbled around the Pilot defense and struck hard outside the box, but sent the ball left of the net.
The contest remained an even battle through the first half, with neither team recording a shot on target past the eighth minute.
Wake Forest took the lead in the 40th minute, with redshirt-junior Sierra Sythe converting the penalty kick.
- Junior forward Chloe Burst drew the foul inside the box that ultimately led to the foul.
At the break, the Deacs led by two shots and maintained 66 percent possession in the first half.
Freshman midfielder Eva Forster got into the action in the 51st, throwing an attempt at the Portland keeper that the Pilot forced high.
Sophomore defender Tahlia Zadeyan recorded a shot on goal in the 67th minute.
Wake Forest continued its offensive push, as sophomore forward Allie Flanagan forced the keeper to make a save in the 72nd minute.
Less than a minute later, Flanagan put the Deacs up 2-0 with her first goal of the season.
- Sythe and Zadeyan recorded assists on the goal.
Amaral tallied a save in the 76th minute, keeping the Pilots scoreless.
The Demon Deacons continued to press offensively as the clock ticked away.
Wake Forest defeated Portland, 2-0.

Demon Deacon Details to Note

The Deacs have posted a stellar 31-3-9 record at home since the start of 2022, with its lone loss over the past three seasons coming against No. 1 Duke in 2024.
Redshirt-junior defender Sierra Sythe made her 40th straight career start.
Senior forward MJ Osborne made her first career start.
Sophomore forward Allie Flanagan netted her first goal of the season and sixth of her career.
- Sophomore defender Tahlia Zadeyan earned her first career point on Flanagan's goal.
Sythe, Zadeyan and sophomore defender Taylor Maxwell went the full 90.

From Coach da Luz
"Our defense was locked down. They looked a little shaky in the first couple minutes, but we settled down and did a really good job. Once we got in our rhythm we were pretty good. I'm super happy for Allie Flanagan, she made big progress and really deserved that goal today. Chloe Burst is such an intelligent player. She makes good decisions and is a great player to come in and change the game."

Up Next
The Demon Deacons head to Tampa, Fla. for their first road match of the season against the South Florida Bulls on Thursday, Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available here.