2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team

The 2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 77th season of the university fielding a program. It was the program's ninth season with Bobby Muuss as head coach.[1] The Demon Deacons played their home matches at Spry Stadium.

2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer
ACC Atlantic Division champions
NCAA Tournament, Second Round
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches pollNo. 15
TopDrawerSoccer.comNo. 18
Record11–3–5 (4–1–3 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Steve Armas (9th season)
  • Dane Brenner (13th season)
  • Ade Taiwo (1st season)
Home stadiumSpry Stadium
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 ACC men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Atlantic
No. 15 Wake Forest + 4 1 3 11 3 5
No. 1 Clemson 4 2 2 15 3 5
No. 25 Syracuse + 2 1 5 9 5 7
No. 24 Louisville + 2 4 2 12 6 3
NC State 1 5 2 6 9 3
Boston College 0 5 3 3 9 5
Coastal
No. 2 Notre Dame + 6 0 2 13 3 6
No. 13 Virginia + 5 2 1 11 4 4
No. 20 Duke+ 4 3 1 11 4 3
No. 6 North Carolina + 2 3 3 11 3 7
Pittsburgh + 2 3 3 6 7 4
Virginia Tech 2 5 1 4 9 4
As of December 12, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: The ACC

The Demon Deacons finished the season 11–3–5 overall and 4–1–3 in ACC play to finish in first place in the Atlantic Division. As the second overall seed in the ACC Tournament they earned a by into the Second Round where they lost to North Carolina. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They were the tenth overall seed and lost to Indiana in overtime in the Second Round to end their season.

Background edit

The Demon Deacons finished the season 14–6–0 overall and 5–3–0 in ACC play to finish in second place in the Atlantic Division. As the fourth overall seed in the ACC Tournament they defeated Virginia Tech in the Second Round before losing to Clemson in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They were an unseeded team and lost to Ohio State in the First Round to end their season.

Player movement edit

Players leaving edit

Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Takuma Suzuki 12 MF 6'1" 150 Senior Peachtree City, Georgia Graduated
David Wrona 13 MF 5'11" 165 Senior Hoover, Alabama Graduated
Omar Hernandez 17 MF 5'11" 175 Senior Dalton, Georgia Graduated
Cole McNally 31 GK 6'4" 220   Junior Mount Airy, Maryland Transferred to William & Mary
Sebastian Scrivner 33 DF 6'3" 180 Senior Bellevue, Washington Graduated

Players arriving edit

Incoming Transfers edit

Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Previous School
Camilo Ponce 17 MF 5'9" 161 Sophomore Amityville, New York Boston College

Recruiting Class edit

Name Nat. Hometown Club TDS Rating
Pranav DuBroff
DF
  USA Frisco, Texas FC Dallas Academy      [2]
Jonah Mednard
GK
  USA Congers, New York New York City FC Academy      [3]
Pariss Mitchell
FW
  USA Ontario, Canada Toronto FC Academy      [4]
Liam O'Gara
MF
  USA Winston-Salem, North Carolina NC Fusion      [5]
Ernesto Perez
MF
  USA Antioch, Illinois Shattuck-Saint Mary's School      [6]
Travis Smith
DF
  USA Louisville, Kentucky Louisville City FC Academy      [7]
Jeffrey White
MF
  USA Tampa, Florida Tampa Bay United Academy      [8]

Squad edit

Roster edit

As of January 16, 2024[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK   USA Jonah Mednard
1 GK   USA Trace Alphin
2 DF   USA Bo Cummins
3 DF   USA Travis Smith Jr.
4 DF   USA Alec Kenison
5 DF   USA Samuel Jones
6 MF   USA Aethan Yohannes
7 MF   USA Nico Rabiu
8 FW   SEN Babacar Niang
9 MF   USA Roald Mitchell
10 MF   SWE Oscar Sears
11 MF   USA Leo Guarino
12 MF   USA Jose Perez
13 MF   USA Jeffrey White
14 DF   USA Jahlane Forbes
15 FW   USA Mwinso Denkabe
16 DF   JPN Hosei Kijima
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF   USA Camilo Ponce
18 MF   USA Cooper Flax
19 DF   USA Cristian Escribano
20 MF   USA Ryan Fessler
21 FW   USA Julian Kennedy
22 MF   PUR Sidney Paris
23 DF   USA Vlad Walent
24 MF   USA Jake Swallen
25 MF   USA Chase Oliver
26 MF   USA Colin Thomas
27 DF   USA Prince Amponsah
28 MF   USA Nicolas Mancilla
30 GK   USA Devin Armstrong
32 DF   USA Garrison Tubbs
33 MF   USA Liam O'Gara
34 DF   USA Pranav DuBroff

Team management edit

Position Staff
Athletic Director John Currie
Head coach Bobby Muuss
Associate head coach Steve Armas
Associate head coach Dane Brenner
Assistant coach Ade Taiwo
Assistant Athletic Trainer Michael White
Academic Counselor Brooke Taylor
Sports Performance David Bass

Source:[9]

Schedule edit

Source:[10]

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Exhibition
August 13*
7:00 p.m.
No. 18 Davidson T 2–2 
Alumni Soccer Stadium
Davidson, NC
August 19*
7:00 p.m.
No. 18 Denver W 3–2 
Spry Stadium
Winston–Salem, NC
Regular season
August 24*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 18 Grand Canyon W 3–1  1–0–0
Spry Stadium (1,324)
Winston–Salem, NC
August 27*
6:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 18 California T 1–1  1–0–1
Spry Stadium (1,352)
Winston–Salem, NC
September 1*
7:30 p.m., B1G+
No. 16 at No. 20 Maryland T 0–0  1–0–2
Ludwig Field (4,644)
College Park, MD
September 5*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 16 Furman W 5–1  2–0–2
Spry Stadium (1,360)
Winston–Salem, NC
September 9
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 9 at Pittsburgh L 0–3  2–1–2
(0–1–0)
Ambrose Urbanic Field (714)
Pittsburgh, PA
September 12*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 20 Gardner–Webb W 4–0  3–1–2
Spry Stadium (915)
Winston–Salem, NC
September 16
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 20 No. 7 Syracuse T 1–1  3–1–3
(0–1–1)
Spry Stadium (2,217)
Winston–Salem, NC
September 19*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 14 Liberty W 3–1  4–1–3
Spry Stadium (753)
Winston–Salem, NC
September 22
6:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 14 Clemson W 1–0  5–1–3
(1–1–1)
Spry Stadium (2,528)
Winston–Salem, NC
September 26*
7:00 p.m., FloFC
No. 10 at Campbell W 3–1  6–1–3
Eakes Athletics Complex (307)
Buies Creek, NC
September 29
2:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 10 at Boston College W 1–0  7–1–3
(2–1–1)
Newton Campus Soccer Field (207)
Chestnut Hill, MA
October 6
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 6 at NC State W 3–0  8–1–3
(3–1–1)
Dail Soccer Field (1,636)
Raleigh, NC
October 10*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4 Wofford W 2–0  9–1–3
Spry Stadium (956)
Winston–Salem, NC
October 14
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4 No. 14 North Carolina W 1–0  10–1–3
(4–1–1)
Spry Stadium (2,454)
Winston–Salem, NC
October 17*
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 3 Robert Morris W 5–1  11–1–3
Spry Stadium (699)
Winston–Salem, NC
October 20
8:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 3 No. 6 Notre Dame T 1–1  11–1–4
(4–1–2)
Spry Stadium (2,261)
Winston–Salem, NC
October 27
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 3 at Louisville T 2–2  11–1–5
(4–1–3)
Lynn Stadium (1,052)
Louisville, KY
ACC Tournament
November 5
4:00 p.m., ACCN
(2) No. 6 (7) No. 13 North Carolina
Quarterfinals
L 0–1  11–2–5
Spry Stadium (2,958)
Winston–Salem, NC
NCAA Tournament
November 19
5:00 p.m., ESPN+
(10) No. 6 Indiana
Second Round
L 2–3 2OT 11–3–5
Spry Stadium (2,059)
Winston–Salem, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Awards and honors edit

Recipient Award Date Ref.
Garrison Tubbs Pre-Season Hermann Trophy Watchlist August 24 [11]
Hosei Kijima Pre-Season All-ACC Team August 26 [12]
Trace Alphin ACC Defensive Player of the Week September 5 [13]
Garrison Tubbs ACC Defensive Player of the Week October 17 [14]
Garrison Tubbs ACC Defensive Player of the Year November 8 [15]
All-ACC First Team
Trace Alphin All-ACC Second Team
Jahlane Forbes
Hosei Kijima
Roald Mitchell
Liam O'Gara All-ACC Freshman Team

2024 MLS Super Draft edit

Player Team Round Pick # Position
  Hosei Kijima St. Louis City 1 17 MF
  Jahlane Forbes Charlotte FC 2 38 DF
  Babacar Niang Minnesota United 3 78 MF

Source:[16]

Rankings edit

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
United Soccer[17]18169201410643366Not released15
TopDrawer Soccer[18]1717141995333357918181818

References edit

  1. ^ "Bobby Muuss - Men's Soccer Coach". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  2. ^ "Pranav DuBroff". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  3. ^ "Jonah Mednard". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "Pariss Mitchell". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  5. ^ "Liam O'Gara". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  6. ^ "Ernesto Perez". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  7. ^ "Travis Smith". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  8. ^ "Jeffrey White". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "2023 Wake Forest Men's Soccer Roster". godeacs.com. Wake Forest Athletics. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  10. ^ "Wake Forest Men's Soccer 2023 Demon Deacon Schedule". wakeforestsports.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  11. ^ "2023 Men's MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  12. ^ "Clemson Selected 2023 Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  13. ^ "UofL's Guerra, Wake's Alphin Earn ACC Men's Soccer Player of Week Honors". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  14. ^ "ACC Announces Men's Soccer Players of Week". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 17, 2023. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  15. ^ "2023 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  16. ^ "Three Demon Deacons Selected in 2024 MLS SuperDraft". godeacs.com. Wake Forest University Athletics. December 19, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  17. ^ "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Men — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  18. ^ "College Soccer National Ranking". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.