No. 2 Wake Forest Holds off Virginia tech in friday night thriller

By Nathan Andrews

Staff Writer

September 17, 2022

BLACKSBURG — Wake Forest clinched its seventh win of a still-undefeated season by shutting out the Hokies at Thompson Field, 1-0.

Wake Forest (7-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) entered the matchup undefeated, while the Hokies (0-5-1) entered without recording a win yet on the season. It was a game that turned heads however, as 2,350 fans were in attendance for Friday night lights in Blacksburg.

Coming into the matchup, Wake Forest had dominated the head-to-head record against the Hokies. In the previous seven games including the two teams, Wake Forest won six times and drew once. The Demon Deacons won the last matchup between the two, defeating the Hokies 3-1 in Winston-Salem, NC in 2021.

Both teams have the two longest records in the ACC for consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. The Hokies have made the big dance in the last six seasons, while the Demon Deacons have secured a spot in their past 11 seasons. The records thus far may have called for a lopsided score, but the Hokies were determined to not let that happen.

The first half was mostly actionless. Both teams came out passing extremely conservative and passing smartly. It almost seemed that every cross attempt was denied, and every shot was either off or easily saved. Very few times did a team get past midfield into their attacking third, as neither squad could maintain possession due to physical defense by both sides.

There was one play that was action packed in the first 45 minutes, however. In the 20th minute, Nick Blacklock just missed a goal opportunity for the Hokies and Wake Forest was taking it up the pitch quickly. A minute later, Tech defender Welnilton Da Silva Jr. had an amazing goal-saving header that sent Thompson Field into a craze.

“Junior’s a great kid, that’s why he’s a captain. He’s a good leader and that was an unbelievable save,” Brizendine said.

The other three official saves in the first half came from Tech goalkeeper Ben Martino, who kept the game scoreless at halftime.

Keeping Wake Forest off the scoresheet in the first half was a sign of progress for Tech, and Brizendine was encouraged with Virginia Tech’s resilience against the second ranked Wake Forest squad despite the loss.

“I think that if we had played like that for more games, we would be in a different spot”, Brizendine said

The second half was a completely different ballgame. Both teams got much more aggressive and were able to take it up the attacking third more consistently. Wake Forest went on a shooting frenzy during the second half, as they had 10 total shots after halftime.

The lone goal came relatively quickly in the second half off the foot of midfielder Colin Thomas. Assisted by Cooper Flax and Vlad Walent, Thomas fired home a shot from along the right side of the touch line.

It was a physical 45 minutes, as three yellow cards were handed out in the second half — one each to Tech midfielders Danny Flores and Nick Blacklock and another to Wake Forest defender Garrison Tubbs.

The moral of the story for Wake Forest was limiting opportunities and playing stout defense, as opposed to their offensive start to the season. Wake goalkeeper Trace Alphin, saving two would-be equalizers in the second half.

“It’s about protecting the ball and keeping the ball in their third,” Brizendine said. “I thought we got better in the second half on that [front]. In the first half it wasn’t great. Again, we were giving the ball away in spots we shouldn’t have, and we saw that we could do it after the second half. So, that was the key.”

Despite the lack of momentum for most of the half, the Hokies had their best chance all night with 15.3 seconds left in the match. Flores, who had gone down earlier in the match from what appeared to be a calf cramp, had a free kick opportunity just outside of the penalty box. The crowd was buzzing, as fans anticipated that maybe the Hokies could tie it.

However, Alphin caught the Flores free kick easily for his final save of the night and ran the clock down, securing Wake Forest’s seventh straight victory to open the season.

“It’s a free kick from 15 [yards out]. We just have to try to get it on frame, get it where the goalkeeper isn’t,” Brizendine said.