March 21, 2005

WILMINGTON, N.C. -- - The Wake Forest soccer team knocked off the U.S. U-17 National Team Saturday afternoon, 2-0, in Wilmington, North Carolina.

The contest was knotted at 0-0 until the 82nd minute, when the Demon Deacons were awarded a free kick from just inside the midfield line.

Justin Moose, a rising senior from Statesville, NC, quickly restarted play with a nicely placed ball into the National Team box. Teammate Mark Ellington, on the receiving end of the pass, worked his way around one defender and pounded in a shot to give Wake Forest a 1-0 advantage.

Just three minutes later, Ellington possessed the ball again on the right side of the box and lofted a pass over to the left side, where rising junior Marcellus Tennyson knocked in another score to set the final at 2-0.

The U17s were able to generate scoring opportunities, but could not knock those chances between the posts.

Demon Deacon netminder Marcus Rein, a former US U17 player, recorded the shutout.

Eddie Ababio, who scored two goals Friday night in a 3-1 win over Davidson, generated two back-to-back shots at the Wake Forest net in the closing minutes. His volley from the right side sailed wide left and seconds later he tried again from the other side of the box, but his left-footed blast was lifted above the bar by Rein.

U17 National head coach John Hackworth, and Demon Deacon alum, praised Wake Forest.

"I think it was the fact that Wake Forest is a good team and presented a problem to us," Hackworth said. "We missed a couple of easy chances when it was 0-0 and you can't do that and expect to beat a team like Wake Forest."

It was a spring season exhibition for the Demon Deacons. After the match, head coach Jay Vidovich gave his team's performance.

"There were some moments in the first half when we were playing fairly well," Vidovich said. "And then at the end, we got a couple of quick breaks that we were real fortunate to get through and capitalize on a mistake and get some big goals."

Vidovich also gave good marks to the U17 team.

"I think they're very organized," he said. "I'd say in the last six or seven months these players here have progressed tremendously."

Wake Forest Lineup:
GK: Marcus Rein
D: Julian Valentin
D: Wes Allen
D: Bobby Davis
D: Ryan Swaim
M: Justin Moose
M: Ryan Solle
M: Grey Ballard
M: Steven Curfman
F: Alimer Gonzalez
F: Mark Ellington

Subs: Brian Edwards, Rick Kukwa, Marcellus Tennyson