Last Minute Lorentz Penalty Lifts Demon Deacons Past Virginia, 3-2, at Spry

Saturday, September 19

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7 p.m.

Wake Forest University

5-2-1, 2-1-0

Virginia

3-4-1, 1-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Virginia	0	2	2
Wake Forest	2	1	3

PDF Box Score

Last Minute Lorentz Penalty Lifts Demon Deacons Past Virginia, 3-2, at Spry

9/19/2026 11:40:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score PDF Box Score PDF Season Stats PDF Career Stats Photo Gallery

The Winston-Salem native converted from the spot with 14 seconds remaining to secure the three points.

By: Dylan Shackelford

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Behind a converted penalty kick from Tate Lorentz with 14 seconds left in the contest, the Wake Forest men's soccer team took down ACC foe Virginia, 3-2, Saturday night at Spry Stadium.

The Demon Deacons (5-2-1, 2-1-0 ACC) remain unbeaten at home with a 4-0-1 mark at Spry this season, having outscored opponents 16-5 in those five matches.

Wake Forest at Spry in 2026

4-2 win vs. San Francisco (Aug. 20)
0-0 draw vs. VCU (Aug. 23)
6-1 win vs. Duke (Sept. 5)
3-0 win vs. USC Upstate (Sept. 8)
3-2 win vs. Virginia (Sept. 19)

Additionally, the win was the 121st at Spry Stadium since 2015 under the direction of head coach Bobby Muuss, a mark that leads the nation by 14 games.

TOTAL WINS SINCE 2015

Rank	Team	Wins Since '15
T1.	Wake Forest	164
T1.	Indiana	164
3.	Clemson	153
4.	Georgetown	151
5.	Stanford	146

Wake Forest has also accumulated 164 total wins during that span, tied with Indiana for an NCAA-best.

HOME WINS SINCE 2015

Rank	Team	Wins Since '15
1.	Wake Forest	121
2.	Indiana	107
3.	Clemson	103
T4.	Georgetown	96
T4.	Virginia	96

The Deacs moved to six points through three ACC matches with five matches left to play and currently sit second in the standings, one point behind Virginia Tech. Saturday marked Muuss' 60th regular season ACC win, the most in the conference since 2015.

Wake Forest took the lead less than 15 minutes into the match, when Jose Perez lifted a perfect corner into the box before Ronnie Garcia rose above the Virginia defenders to head it home.

It marked Garcia's first goal in a Wake Forest uniform, and the second of his collegiate career, having scored once in his freshman season at Campbell. The Dallas native now has four points on the year with two assists earlier in the campaign. Perez's delivery was his second assist of the season as he now has 15 career points (six goals, three assists) though 60 matches.

Eight minutes after Garcia's opener, Reid doubled the advantage when Jeffrey White's shot from outside the box came back off the far post and fell right to the New Zealander for an easy finish. The goal was Reid's second in the Old Gold & Black and the eighth of his collegiate career overall.

The Cavaliers struck twice in the span of two minutes (52', 54') to equalize and had a penalty attempt in the 67th, but standout goalkeeper Jonah Mednard rose to the occasion once again and kept it out. The Wake Forest shotstopper finished the night with five saves to bring his season total to 29.

Following a handball in the box with just 14 seconds remaining and the match deadlocked at 2-2, Lorentz stepped up, buried his penalty and snatched the win for the Demon Deacons in dramatic fashion in front of the raucous Golden Army.

The hometown hero now leads the team with nine points on the year (three goals, three assists) and brought his collegiate totals to nine goals and eight assists for 26 points.

The winner was the fifth-latest regulation goal in program history and the latest since Bruno Lapa's against NC State on Oct. 11, 2019 (89:51).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Wake Forest raced to a 2-0 lead inside the first 23 minutes, with Ronnie Garcia opening the scoring in the 15th minute off a Jose Perez cross and Joby Reid doubling the advantage eight minutes later.
Virginia answered in a hurry to open the second half, tying the match 2-2 in a span of less than two minutes on goals from Dos Santos (52') and Smith (54').
Jonah Mednard turned away a potential go-ahead penalty kick from Smith in the 67th minute to keep the match level.
The score stayed deadlocked until the final minute of regulation, when a hand ball in the box set up Lorentz's game-winning penalty with 14 seconds remaining.
Wake Forest held on and secured three points with a 3-2 victory.

FROM COACH MUUSS
"Hats off to the crowd and everybody that stayed to the end. It was an exciting second half. I was really disappointed in our guys with the way we started the second half. Credit to Virginia, they started with a lot more energy. We just didn't play intelligent football. We were able to get the game back a little bit, still a little bit too end-to-end, and that played into the final seconds. It was a well deserved penalty there and Tate Lorentz stepped up. I thought some guys that didn't have good performances last weekend stepped up tonight. I'm proud of the supporters. It's great to have so many Demon Deacons back to watch a win over a big rival and a great side. I'm extremely proud of the guys."

UP NEXT
Wake Forest hits the road for another ACC test on Friday, Sept. 25, traveling to Raleigh to face Big Four rival NC State at 7 p.m., streamed live on ACC Network.