2020 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team

The 2020 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 74th season of the university fielding a program. It was the program's sixth season with Bobby Muuss as head coach. The Demon Deacons played their home matches at Spry Stadium.

2020 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, Quarterfinals
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches pollNo. 6
TopDrawerSoccer.comNo. 5
Record13–3–2 (8–1–2 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Steve Armas (6th season)
  • Dane Brenner (10th season)
  • Jonathan Lagos (2nd season)
Home stadiumSpry Stadium
Seasons
← 2019
2021 →
2020 ACC men's fall soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
North
No. 2 Pittsburgh 4 0 0 7 1 0
No. 4 Virginia Tech 3 1 2 3 2 2
Notre Dame 3 2 0 5 4 0
Virginia 2 3 1 3 4 1
Louisville 1 4 1 1 6 1
Syracuse 0 3 2 0 3 2
South
No. 3 Wake Forest 5 1 0 7 2 0
North Carolina 3 1 2 3 2 2
No. 1 Clemson 3 2 1 8 2 1
Duke 2 4 0 2 6 0
NC State 0 5 1 0 6 1
Boston College 0 0 0 0 0 0
As of March 9, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source:The ACC
Note: † Due to COVID-19, Boston College suspended the Fall 2020 men's soccer season; begins play in March.
2020 ACC men's spring soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Atlantic
No. 7 Clemson 4 1 1 14 3 3
Louisville 4 2 0 5 8 1
No. 6 Wake Forest + 3 0 2 13 3 2
NC State 1 2 3 3 8 4
Boston College * 1 3 1 1 3 1
Syracuse 0 3 1 2 7 4
Coastal
No. 3 Pittsburgh + 5 1 0 16 4 0
No. 4 North Carolina + 4 1 1 9 5 4
Duke 2 3 1 3 10 3
Virginia 2 4 0 7 8 1
No. 15 Virginia Tech + 2 4 0 7 6 4
Notre Dame 1 5 0 8 9 0
As of May 18, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source:The ACC
Note: *- Due to COVID-19, Boston College suspended the Fall 2020 men's soccer season; began play in March.

The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.

The Demon Deacons finished the fall season 5–1–0 and 7–2–0 in ACC play to finish in first place in the South Division. In the ACC Tournament they lost to Virginia in the Quarterfinals. They finished the spring season 4–0–2 and 3–0–2 in ACC play, to finish in third place in the Atlantic Division. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the fifth seed in the tournament, they defeated Coastal Carolina in the Second Round and Kentucky in the Third Round before losing to North Carolina in the Quarterfinals to end their season.

Background edit

The 2019 Wake Forest men's soccer team finished the season with a 16–5–2 overall record and a 6–2–0 ACC record. The Demon Deacons were seeded third–overall in the 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, where they defeated Virginia Tech in the Quarterfinals, but lost to eventual champions Virginia in the Semifinals. The Demon Deacons earned an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. As the fourth–overall seed in the tournament, Wake Forest defeated Maryland, Michigan, and UC Santa Barbara before being defeated by eventual runners-up Virginia in the Semifinals.

At the end of the season, two Demon Deacons men's soccer players were selected in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft: Alistair Johnston and Joey DeZart.[1]

Player movement edit

Players leaving edit

Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for departure
Andreu Cases Mundet 1 GK 6'0" 165 Senior Barcelona, Spain Graduated
Justyn Thomas 6 DF 6'0" 175 Junior Keswick, Ontario
Alistair Johnson 8 MF 5'11" 170 Senior Aurora, Ontario Declared for 2020 MLS SuperDraft; drafted 11th overall by Nashville
Tater Rennhack 9 FW 5'11" 165   Senior Westlake, TX Graduated
Bruno Lapa 10 MF 5'9" 155 Senior Curitiba, Brazil Graduated
Joey DeZart 14 MF 6'1" 195 Senior Jackson, NJ Declared for 2020 MLS SuperDraft; drafted 31st overall by Orlando
Eddie Folds 19 DF 5'10" 150 Senior Columbus, OH Graduated

Players arriving edit

Name Nat. Hometown Club TDS Rating
Prince Amponsah
DF
  USA Bronx, New York NYCFC (Academy)      [2]
Cristian Escribano
DF
  USA Frisco, TX FC Dallas (Academy)      [3]
  USA Clermont, FL Orlando City SC (Academy)      [4]
Hosei Kijima
DF
  JPN Yokohama, Japan IMG Academy      [5]
Chase Oliver
MF
  USA Kennesaw, GA Atlanta United (Academy)      [6]
Thomas Raimbault
FW
  CAN Vancouver, BC Vancouver Whitecaps (Academy) N/A[7]
Oscar Sears
MF
  SWE Stockholm, Sweden Danderyds Gymnasium      [8]
Colin Thomas
MF
  USA Canton, GA United Futbol Academy      [9]
  USA Brunswick, GA Atlanta United (Academy)      [10]

Squad edit

Roster edit

Updated:November 4, 2020[11]

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 Andrew Pannenberg
2 DF   USA Koby Carr
3 FW   USA Kyle Holcomb
4 DF   USA Holland Rula
5 DF   TRI Michael DeShields
7 FW   USA Aristotle Zarris
10 MF   SWE Oscar Sears
11 MF   JAM Justin McMaster
12 MF   USA Takuma Suzuki
13 FW   USA David Wrona
14 DF   USA Jahlane Forbes
15 MF   USA Isaiah Parente
16 DF   JPN Hosei Kijima
17 MF   USA Omar Hernandez
19 DF   USA Cristian Escribano
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF   USA Kyle McCurley
21 MF   USA Machop Chol
22 FW   NZL Calvin Harris
23 DF   USA Nico Benalcazar
24 MF   USA Jake Swallen
25 MF   PHI William Valtos
26 MF   USA Colin Thomas
27 DF   USA Prince Amponsah
28 DF   USA Tyrrell Moore
30 GK   USA Dominic Peters
31 GK   USA Cole McNally
32 DF   USA Garrison Tubbs
33 DF   USA Sebastian Scrivner
34 MF   USA Chase Oliver

Team management edit

Position Staff
Athletic Director Ron Wellman
Head coach Bobby Muuss
Associate head coach Steve Armas
Assistant Coach Dane Brenner
Assistant Coach Jonathan Lagos
Assistant Athletic Trainer Michael White
Academic Counselor Brooke Taylor
Sports Performance David Bass

Source:[11]

Schedule edit

Source:[12][13]

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Exhibition
September 13, 2020*
7:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh W 3–2 
Spry Stadium
Winston–Salem, NC
Fall Regular season
September 25, 2020*
6:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 1 at Louisville W 3–1  1–0–0
Lynn Stadium (112)
Louisville, KY
October 3, 2020
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 1 NC State W 4–1  2–0–0
(1–0–0)
Spry Stadium
Winston–Salem, NC
October 10, 2020*
7:30 p.m., ACCN
No. 1 UAB W 2–0  3–0–0
(1–0–0)
Spry Stadium (748)
Winston–Salem, NC
October 13, 2020
7:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 1 at Clemson L 1–2  3–1–0
(1–1–0)
Riggs Field (1,000)
Clemson, SC
October 18, 2020
6:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 1 No. 3 North Carolina W 1–0 OT 4–1–0
(2–1–0)
Spry Stadium
Winston–Salem, NC
October 23, 2020
6:00 p.m., ACCN
No. 2 at Duke W 2–1  5–1–0
(3–1–0)
Koskinen Stadium
Durham, NC
October 30, 2020
5:00 p.m., RSN
No. 2 No. 3 Clemson W 2–0  6–1–0
(4–1–0)
Spry Stadium
Winston–Salem, NC
November 7, 2020
7:00 p.m., RSN
No. 2 at NC State W 2–0  7–1–0
(5–1–0)
Dail Soccer Field (77)
Raleigh, NC
ACC Tournament
November 15, 2020
4:00 p.m., ACCN
(S1) No. 2 (N4) Virginia
Quarterfinals
L 0–2  7–2–0
Spry Stadium (100)
Winston–Salem, NC
Spring Regular season
March 1, 2021*
6:00 p.m., ACCNX
Davidson W 1–0  8–2–0
Spry Stadium (0)
Winston–Salem, NC
March 6, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 6 Boston College W 3–2  9–2–0
(6–1–0)
Spry Stadium (0)
Winston–Salem, NC
March 13, 2021
6:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4 NC State T 0–0 2OT 9–2–1
(6–1–1)
Spry Stadium (350)
Winston–Salem, NC
March 20, 2021
7:00 p.m.
No. 5 at Notre Dame W 3–2  10–2–1
(7–1–1)
Alumni Stadium (241)
Notre Dame, IN
March 27, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 6 Louisville W 2–1 OT 11–2–1
(8–1–1)
Spry Stadium (450)
Winston–Salem, NC
April 2, 2021
7:00 p.m., ACCNX
No. 4 at No. 1 Clemson T 0–0 2OT 11–2–2
(8–1–2)
Riggs Field (1,000)
Clemson, SC
April 9, 2021
7:00 p.m.
No. 4 at Syracuse  Canceled[14] 
SU Soccer Stadium
Syracuse, NY
NCAA Tournament
May 2, 2021
1:00 p.m., ESPN3
(5) No. 4 No. 25 Coastal Carolina
Second Round
W 3–2  12–2–2
Spry Stadium (509)
Winston–Salem, NC
May 6, 2021
9:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream
(5) No. 4 vs. No. 24 Kentucky
Third Round
W 2–1  13–2–2
WakeMed Soccer Park (156)
Cary, NC
May 10, 2021
5:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream
(5) No. 4 vs. No. 16 North Carolina
Quarterfinals
L 1–2  13–3–2
WakeMed Soccer Park (189)
Cary, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Awards and honors edit

Recipient Award Date Ref.
Calvin Harris ACC Co-offensive Player of the Week September 28, 2020 [15]
Kyle Holcomb ACC Co-offensive Player of the Week October 5, 2020 [16]
Omar Hernandez ACC Co-offensive Player of the Week October 26, 2020 [17]
Nico Benalcazar ACC Defensive Player of the Week November 2, 2020 [18]
Andrew Pannenberg ACC Defensive Player of the Week November 9, 2020 [19]
Calvin Harris All ACC First-Team April 14, 2021 [20]
Isaiah Parente
Nico Benalcazar All ACC Second-Team
Machop Chol
Kyle Holcomb All ACC Third-Team
Garrison Tubbs All ACC Rookie Team

2021 MLS Super Draft edit

Player Team Round Pick # Position
Calvin Harris FC Cincinnati 1 2 FW
Michael DeShields D.C. United 1 5 DF
Justin McMaster Minnesota United 1 17 FW
Andrew Pannenberg Orlando City 2 49 GK

Source:[21]

Rankings edit

Fall 2020 edit

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.
Poll Wk
1
Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Final
United Soccer[22] 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3

Spring 2021 edit

Ranking movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes.
Poll Pre Wk
1
Wk
2
Wk
3
Wk
4
Wk
5
Wk
6
Wk
7
Wk
8
Wk
9
Wk
10
Wk
11
Wk
12
Wk
13
Final
United Soccer[22] None Released 6 4 5 6 4 (1) 4 5 4 (2) None Released 6
TopDrawer Soccer [23] 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 5

References edit

  1. ^ "14 ACC Players Picked on Day 1 of MLS SuperDraft". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
  2. ^ "Prince Amponsah". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "Cristian Escribano". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  4. ^ "Jahlane Forbes". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  5. ^ "Hosei Kijima". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  6. ^ "Chase Oliver". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  7. ^ "Thomas Raimbault". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  8. ^ "Oscar Sears". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  9. ^ "Colin Thomas". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  10. ^ "Garrison Tubbs". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "2020 Wake Forest Men's Soccer Roster". wakeforestsports.com. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  12. ^ "Wake Forest Men's Soccer 2020 Demon Deacon Schedule". wakeforestsports.com. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  13. ^ "Wake Forest Men's Soccer Announces Spring Schedule". godeacs.com. Wake Forest Athletics. January 26, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  14. ^ "Orange Men's Soccer Season Comes to a Close". cuse.com. Syracuse University Athletics. April 6, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  15. ^ "Pitt, Wake Forest Earn Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. September 28, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  16. ^ "Holcomb, Seye, Smir Earn ACC Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. October 5, 2020. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  17. ^ "Barber, Hernandez, Ågren Pick Up ACC Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. October 26, 2020. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  18. ^ "VT's Labovitz, Wake's Benalcazar Earn ACC Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 2, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  19. ^ "ND's Lynn, Wake's Pannenberg Notch ACC Men's Soccer Weekly Honors". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  20. ^ "2020 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. The Atlantic Coast Conference. April 14, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  21. ^ "2021 MLS SuperDraft Tracker". MLSSoccer.com. Archived from the original on January 22, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  22. ^ a b "NCAA DI Men's National Rankings". National Soccer Coaches Association of America. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  23. ^ "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2021.