Saturday night’s match against the Demon Deacons (9-2-2, 3-1-1 ACC) proved to be a defensive battle for the Pack. The fourth-ranked Wake Forest team came into the match leading the ACC in goals and continued the pattern, overpowering the Wolfpack (9-3-1, 2-3-1 ACC) 4-1.
This marked the first loss for the Pack on its home turf at Dail Soccer Field. The Demon Deacons scored two goals in each half, bringing State’s five-game winning streak to an abrupt halt.
Wake Forest recorded its first goal within the first five minutes of the competition. Austin da Luz, who leads the ACC in assists, shot on redshirt senior goal keeper Christopher Widman, who blocked the shot at close range. However, the deflection from Widman’s glove went directly to the feet of Zack Schilawski, who scored his sixth goal of the season at the 4:24 mark.
Da Luz was the scorer of the following goal, assisted by Corben Bone, at the 38:10 mark. Da Luz’s shot from a mere 12 yards out was the result of a simple give-and-go combo between the two men.
N.C. State seemed to have found a new fire during halftime, coming out with a renewed energy and aggression. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Kris Byrd accredits this newfound spirit to coach George Tarantini’s speech during halftime.
“[He said], ‘Put the first half behind you. There’s a reason we’re 13th in the nation, and we’re going to prove it out there second half’,” Byrd said.
The Pack finally got on the board in the 60th minute of play. Senior midfielder Alan Sanchez fed the ball to redshirt senior forward Ronnie Bouemboue, in the center of the field, who passed the ball to Byrd on the right wing. Byrd dribbled into Wake’s box, scoring on goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald, making the score 2-1.
In the moments leading up to his goal, Byrd was thinking about what Tarantini had told the team at halftime, urging them to trust each other and play with confidence.
“I just told myself, ‘I know I can beat the guy down the line.’ I beat the guy down the line and just tried to cross it in,” Byrd said. “The momentum just put the ball in the goal at the back post.”
The Demon Deacons responded, however, scoring the final two goals within two minutes of one another. Da Luz assisted Andy Lubahn at the 68:25 mark, and Ike Opara had an unassisted header to give Wake its final goal at 70:19.
“Whenever we lose, I don’t feel like I played my best,” junior defender Lucas Carpenter said. “We need to get back to [our] winning ways.”
Wake Forest outshot N.C. State 19-15 Saturday night. Widman came out with a career-high for saves, with eight disallowed shots, while Fitzgerald saved three.
Tarantini was happy with the effort the team put into the game but thought Wake was able to overpower them.
“I thought we played hard,” Tarantini said. “I thought we did what we could, but there are no excuses.”
The Pack will look toward getting back on the winning side as it hosts High Point on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Dail Soccer Field.
