On the surface, a 4-2 victory over High Point for the Wake Forest men’s soccer team appeared to be the bounce back the team needed. After seeing their offense, which ranks first in the nation in scoring, sputter in a 2-0 shutout loss at Syracuse, responding with four goals in the following game could only be construed as positive—but it is the defense, not the offense, that could hold this team back in 2018.
Beginning 20 minutes into their match against High Point, Wake Forest did what Wake Forest has done all season: score goals. Freshman Aristotle Zarris and sophomore Omir Fernandez each found the back of the net within two minutes of each other, and the Demon Deacons looked poised to cruise for the rest of the match.
This team’s lone Achilles’ heel in 2018, however, reared its ugly head when High Point capitalized on two fast break opportunities in the 31st and 36th minutes to even the game at 2-2. High Point rarely pressured the Wake Forest defense for long stretches, as the Demon Deacons controlled possession throughout the match, but two brief instances of defensive misalignment and disorganization were enough to quickly spoil the team’s lead.
“If you take out a couple of those mistakes—and I know they’re big because they cost [us] goals—the game was a pretty good performance,” said head coach Bobby Muuss after the match.
Coach Muuss correctly assesses the quality of the performance against High Point from a holistic perspective, but these types of defensive “mistakes” have been a trend this year.
In 2017, Wake Forest ranked fifth in the nation in goals allowed per game at 0.547. This season, their goals allowed per game has ballooned to 0.986, which ranks 58th in the nation. The offense’s dominance successfully masks Wake Forest’s unusual proclivity for allowing high goal totals to inferior competition, but at some point in the season, these issues must be nipped in the bud.
The defense remains prone to moments of porousness, especially in otherwise successful matches, and these short lapses in concentration could be the difference between the Demon Deacons winning their first title since 2007 or falling short in another College Cup campaign.
“When we are up 2-0 like that, we just need to stay with the way we played through the first 25 minutes,” said team captain and senior defender Sam Raben. “If we can stay focused, in the end, that kind of stuff does not need to happen.”
Perhaps the issue does indeed stem solely from focus. Wake Forest clearly possesses players talented enough to tally more clean sheets, but lesser competition might not inspire enough fear to command 90 minutes of the defense’s attention.
At the end of the day, the players are human beings, and playing an average opponent on a Tuesday night in front of smaller crowds causes the mind to stray from the all-consuming, heart-pounding focus that accompanies more meaningful matches.
Against Indiana, Clemson and Virginia Tech, some of the best competition Wake Forest faced this season, the defense allowed a combined total of two goals. In three games against weaker opponents—ETSU, Syracuse and High Point—Wake Forest allowed a combined total of six goals.
The sample size might be too small to say with certainty that the defense will trend upward or downward through the rest of the season. Muuss and his players seem to believe, with good reason, that these issues are not due to a lack of talent or subpar tactics, but should the defense squander a 2-0 lead when the lights get brighter in November and December, hindsight will make allowing these deficiencies to fester look even worse.
Ren Schmitt, Sports Journalism 