WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – UAB men’s soccer fell to No. 1 Wake Forest 3-0 on a soaking wet Saturday night in Winston-Salem.
UAB (1-4) faced 22 shots from Wake Forest (3-0), 13 of which were on goal. The Blazers tallied four shots in the match, two on goal.
“I thought we were a bit timid early on in the match and took a bit too long to settle in,” said head coach Jeff Kinney. “When you play teams like Wake Forest, you have to take your chances well and unfortunately we had some really good looks on goal that we didn’t finish. We now need to recover quickly and look forward to finally having a home game on Tuesday.”
After the Blazers stifled a few early chances, the Demon Deacons broke through in the 36th minute. David Wrona finished a ball from Colin Thomas into the bottom right corner of the net to give Wake the 1-0 lead.
Wrona made it 2-0 for Wake Forest five minutes later sending the ball past a diving Caelan Whitehead into the bottom left of the net from 19 yards out.
Wake took the 2-0 lead into the half, outshooting the Blazers 10-1 through the first 45 minutes. The lone UAB shot came in the 20th minute from Joseph Buete who fired off a strong shot from just inside the 18 that was saved by the Wake Forest keeper.
The Demon Deacons nearly grabbed another goal early in the second half but Krenar Krasniqi made a clearance at the goal line to keep the deficit to two.
Aodhán O’Hara had UAB’s first opportunity of the second half as he dribbled past a few defenders and sent a shot towards the goal from inside the box that was saved by the Wake keeper. O’Hara’s second attempt was blocked by a Demon Deacon defender.
Wake Forest added its third and final goal in the 65th minute on a rocket off the right foot of Clavin Harris.
The Blazers had a couple of chances late in the second half as Blake White took a shot into traffic from 10 yards out that was blocked, and Santiago Herrera missed high from just inside the box.
Whitehead made a career-high nine saves, bringing his season total to 21.
After five straight road games the Blazers will finally return to BBVA Field to face Georgia State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night in Birmingham. Fans will be asked to practice social distancing and wear masks for the safety of those around them.
Men’s soccer season tickets are on sale by purchasing the 2020-21 Gold Card for $65 here. The Gold Card is an exclusive offer that grants you admission into all UAB men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball events for the upcoming academic year. Contact the UAB Ticket Office at (205) 975-UAB1 for more details.
For more information on the UAB men’s soccer team, follow @UAB_MSoc on Twitter and Instagram. # UAB #
