Aug. 27, 2011
Box Score
| Box Score in PDF Format 
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's soccer team dropped a 2-0 decision to visiting South Florida on opening night at W. Dennie Spry Stadium on Saturday, August 27.
"The first 15 minutes we did a tremendous job. We came out, we were pushing the game and moving the ball," head coach Jay Vidovich said. "We had tremendous opportunities from the beginning, but youth and inexperience can hurt you. I think South Florida did a better job of managing the game, playing to win and playing effective soccer."
Early on Danny Wenzel supplied the Deacons with a good opportunity in the 19th minute, but the shot was intercepted by USF goalie Chris Blais. Wake Forest controlled the pace early, but things changed quickly in the 21st minute when USF found the net off a free kick by Dom Dwyer in the 21st minute. Wesley Charpie was credited with the assist.
Disaster struck again for the Deacs in the 37th minute when a pass from Tolani Ibikunle went wide of Michael Lisch and dribbled into the net to give the Bulls a 2-0 advantage.
40 seconds later Anthony Arena missed wide right off a corner in an attempt to equalize. Sam Fink also misfired on a close chance following a corner by Teddy Mullin in the 32nd minute. Another solid chance by Fink went wide in the final ten seconds of the half.
Despite the two score hole at the half, the Deacs actually outshot USF 9-6 and held a 3-2 lead in shots on goal.
"There were moments where tried to play our way and did a decent job, but just couldn't sustain it. Sometimes you have to believe and work hard to create your own luck," Vidovich said. "There were just so many times where it came off our foot the wrong way, or in the box it bounced to them instead of to us. You have to make that luck yourself."
When all was said and done the Demon Deacons had outshot the Bulls 20-14 on the night, but could not find pay dirt. South Florida's Blais got credit for the win and his first clean sheet of the season in net with seven saves.
"In the second half I don't think we ever re-grouped, but we battled and I can't fault their effort," Vidovich said. "They worked very hard to win, but we just couldn't establish our game."
With 9:03 remaining Lisch went flying to the ground in a scary collision and spent several minutes on the ground before exiting the game under his own strength. He finished the game with three saves in 80:57 between the sticks. Redshirt junior Doug Ryan relieved him in goal for the final 9:03 of the match and was not seriously tested by the Bulls.
A boisterous crowd of 4,123 was on hand, and attempted to will Wake Forest back into the match in the second half but it was not meant to be. It was the tenth largest crowd in the history of Spry Stadium and the second-biggest to see a Demon Deacon non-conference men's soccer match in the history of the program.
It was also the first time in program history the Deacons lost a regular season match in August. WFU is now 13-1-1 all-time in the eighth month of the year. The Bulls avenged a 5-0 loss the last time the two met in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, when Wake sent them packing on the way to a third straight College Cup appearance.
WFU will have just under a week to prepare for the University of Louisville, last year's national runner-up and a favorite to win it all in 2011. The Cardinals come to town Friday, September 2 for an 8:00 p.m. matchup.
