Oct. 26, 2005

Box Score

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The No. 19 Wake Forest men's soccer team could not have picked a better time to register its first road win of 2005. The Demon Deacons used a first-half goal from freshman Michael Lahoud to get past UNC Greensboro, 1-0, Wednesday night at UNCG Soccer Stadium snapping the Spartans six-match winning streak. With the victory, the Deacs improve to 10-4-2 overall and extend their winning streak in Greensboro over the Spartans to four games -- a streak that dates back to 1989.

Lahoud picked up his first goal since Oct. 7. Junior Wells Thompson slipped a past under the leg of a UNCG defender to a streaking Lahoud, who cut the ball back across the goalmouth and hammered a shot under the diving UNCG goalkeeper Jay Benfield at 27:27. The goal for Lahoud was his fifth of the season, while Thompson recorded his fourth assist. The tally was the first goal allowed by Benfield in 534:39 -- a span dating back to a Sept. 27 match at North Carolina.

The goal would turn out to be the only score on the evening, but the match was worthy of admission.

Holding onto the slim, 1-0, Wake Forest seemed to take command of the match early in the second-half. Junior Ryan Solle spotted freshman defender Lyle Adams racing down the right wing. Adams received the ball and went one-on-one with Benfield, but his shot was stopped by the Spartan netminder. Junior Mark Ellington then bicycle kicked the ensuing rebound from the top of the box that crashed off the goalpost.

Senior All-American Justin Moose, who was a thorn in the side of the Spartans all night, went at Benfield alone just minutes later, but his attempt glanced off the same near post. On a Solle corner kick, Ellington nearly scored one of the most spectacular goals in recent Wake Forest history. The Swansboro, NC native side-volleyed the corner kick toward the goal, but Benfield made a tremendous save -- stopping the shot on the goal line. Benfield, again, kept the UNCG deficit to a single goal when Moose broke free behind the defense again. Moose's shot was saved.

The Spartans had their fare share of chances as well, but goalkeeper Brian Edwards answered every challenge en route to his seventh shutout of the season and 16th of his career. Edwards made four saves, while his counterpart Benfield also registered four saves.

UNCG held a 12-11 advantage in shots. The game was physical throughout the entire match as the two teams were whistled for a total of 40 fouls.

Wake Forest returns to action at NC State on Sunday, Oct. 30. Kickoff with the Wolfpack is scheduled for 2 p.m at Method Road.

NOTES
The Wake Forest Win
... gives the Deacs at least 10 victories for the 12th consecutive season -- each year under current head coach Jay Vidovich
... improves the Demon Deacons to 10-4-2 overall
... improves the Deacs to 6-1-0 in the last seven meetings with the Spartans
... evens the all-time series with UNC Greensboro at 7-7-2
... gives Wake Forest a 4-3-0 record all-time against the Spartans in Greensboro
... is the fourth consecutive victory at UNC Greensboro
... improves the Demon Deacons to 40-9-4 against non-conference opponents over the last four years, including 35-4-3 in the regular season
... gives 11th-year head coach Jay Vidovich his 144th career victory

	                        1	2		F
#19 Wake Forest (10-4-2)	1	0	-	1
#14 UNC Greensboro (11-4-0)	0	0	-	0
Shots: Wake Forest 11, UNC Greensboro 12
Corner Kicks: Wake Forest 2, UNC Greensboro 2
Saves: Wake Forest 4 (Brian Edwards 4), UNC Greensboro 4 (Jay Benfield 4)
Fouls: Wake Forest 21, UNC Greensboro 19
Offsides: Wake Forest 6, UNC Greensboro 2
Yellow Card: Jokull Elisabetarson (UNCG) 69:50; Sam Cronin (Wake Forest) 73:55; Henning Jonason (UNCG) 74:41; Bench (UNCG) 85:13
Attendance: 1,313