Nov. 26, 2005

Final Stats

BERKELEY, Calif. - The No. 23 Wake Forest men's soccer team led 2-1 and was 22 seconds from its first ever berth into the NCAA quarterfinals, but No. 7 seed California tied the match at 89:38 -- sending the match into overtime. Jeff Serafini then scored the golden goal for the Bears at 108:30 in the second overtime giving Cal a 3-2 come-from-behind victory in NCAA Tournament third round action Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, Wake Forest closes the season at 13-8-2, while the Bears improve to 14-3-3 advancing into the quarterfinals to face the winner of New Mexico and Cal State Northridge.

Trailing by a goal, Cal, who took advantage of set pieces all afternoon, continued to push players into the Wake Forest penalty area. After the Deacons were whistled for a foul just inside the Bears half, Cal goalkeeper Erik Kronberg dumped the ensuing re-start into the box. Luke Sasanno managed to head the ball back across the goal mouth, saving it from going over the touchline, to Calen Carr. The Pac-10 Player of the Year buried the opportunity just seconds from the end of regulation tying the match, 2-2. The goal was Carr's second of the match and 13th of the season.

The Bears rode the momentum of the season-saving score into overtime. After neither team scored in the first 10 minute period, Cal broke through under two minutes from penalty kicks. The Bears were awarded their 11th corner kick of the match and Andrew Jacobson curled in the service to Serafini who re-directed the cross into the net past Wake Forest goalkeeper Brian Edwards. It was the second goal directly off a corner kick for Cal in the match.

Senior All-American and Hermann Trophy semifinalist Justin Moose had silenced the crowd of 3,207 with an unassisted goal at 72:16 giving the Demon Deacons a 2-1 lead. Freshman Jamie Franks broke free behind the Cal defense and worked his way past the charging Kronberg. Franks spotted Moose, whose first shot on goal was blocked, but the midfielder corralled the rebound and blasted home his seventh goal of the season.

Leading 2-1, Wake Forest had ample opportunities to put the match away. Freshman Michael Lahoud and Moose each had golden chances inside a three-minute span late in regulation, but both skipped just wide.

The Demon Deacons grabbed the match's first lead at 12:03 of the first-half. Freshman Lyle Adams pushed out of the back and attacked the Bears' left flank. The defender split a pair of Cal defenders and slotted a pass across the goalmouth to an unmarked Lahoud. The freshman forward calmly knocked the ball into the open net. The goal was Lahoud's seventh of the season. For Adams, the assist was his first point of the season.

Cal had a golden chance to equalize in the 34th minute. Carr was left alone inside the Deacs penalty area and his shot from eight-yards out was stopped by Edwards. Edwards cut Carr's angle and deflected the shot back into the six-yard box, but the Deacons were able to clear the ball out of danger.

Edwards made nine saves in the match -- tying his single-game career high. The sophomore made nine stops in the 2-1 victory over Old Dominion in the second round of the tournament.

The Bears equalized early in the second-half. Carr tracked down a loose ball off a corner kick and slipped it past Edwards at 47:57 tying the score, 1-1.

While Wake Forest will return nine starters for next season, the loss did end the Demon Deacon careers of Moose, midfielder Grey Ballard, defender Wes Allen and forward Marcellus Tennyson. The quartet not only led Wake Forest to 57 victories over the past four years (tying for the most ever by a Deacon senior class), but also three Sweet 16 appearances, two ACC regular season titles and were twice the top seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Deacons went 57-20-8 -- good for a .717 winning percentage.

The Loss This Afternoon
... denied Wake Forest their first ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals
... denied the Deacons' senior class their 58th victory -- the most for any class in school history
... dropped the Demon Deacons to 13-8-2 overall
... eliminated the Demon Deacons in the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four years
... made the Deacs 1-1-0 all-time against California and 3-5-0 against current members of the Pac-10
... made the Demon Deacons 2-5-1 on the road and 6-6-1 away from Spry Stadium this season
... gave the Deacons a record of 6-9-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament action
... made the Deacs 5-5-1 in the NCAA Tournament in the Vidovich era
... gave Wake Forest a 0-3-0 all-time record in the third round of the NCAA Tournament
... dropped Wake Forest to 1-2-0 all-time on the road in the NCAA Tournament
... denied 12th-year head coach Jay Vidovich his 148th career victory.

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