Oct. 10, 2000

Box Score

Winston-Salem, NC - The Wake Forest men's soccer team blanked UNC Asheville, 7-0, on Tuesday night at Spry Stadium. The Deacons used a balanced attack with five different players scoring goals, seven players overall registering points. Senior goalkeeper Rob Vartughian needed to make just one save to claim his third shutout of the year.

With the win, the Deacons extend their season-best winning streak to four and their unbeaten streak to six games. Wake Forest improves to 7-3-1 overall, 2-1 in the ACC. UNC-Asheville slips to 5-8 on the year.

Seniors Ben Stafford and Jaron Barbee tallied two goals apiece. Junior Chris Lonteen dished out two assists. Freshman Vicente Bastidas chipped in one goal and one assist on the evening.

"Tonight was a good win for us because we came out focused and ready to go from the first whistle," head coach Jay Vidovich said. "One of the things we've been wanting to do is to score goals early in the game. We were able to do that tonight and that's a big positive for us."

The Deacons dominated for much of the entire contest outshooting the Bulldogs 23-2. The Wake Forest defense did not allow a shot until the 65th minute when the Deacs already led by five goals.

The game saw the first collegiate goals by freshmen Rick Kozell and Brian Carroll. Carroll, who has started all 11 games in the midfield, intercepted a UNC Asheville pass in the Bulldog end, worked his way around a defender and fired a ball past Andrew Heath. Kozell's goal may have been the most impressive of the night. The freshman from Tequesta, Fla., who came off the bench for just the third time this year, wrapped up the scoring in the 86th minute with a bullet from a very sharp angle on the left side. Kozell tucked the ball just under the crossbar.

Stafford got the scoring underway in the 17th minute on a penalty kick. He struck again in the 25th minute on a pinpoint thru-ball from Lonteen. Stafford continues to put together an outstanding senior season. His two goals tonight give him 12 on the season, the highest Wake Forest single season mark since 1983.

In all, 21 players took to the field for Wake Forest. Freshman Gideon Coronel, a defender from Amsterdam, made his debut for the Deacons in the second half.

Wake Forest returns to action on Sunday with a road game at Charlotte. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.