The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-3-6, 1-3-3 ACC) escaped the Steel City with a 1-1 draw against the Pittsburgh Panthers (5-6-4, 1-4-2 ACC) at Ambrose Urbanic Field. For the Deacs, this result was a third
straight draw and their second of this week, and it also pushed their conference unbeaten streak out to a third game. For the Panthers, this result also makes it three games in a row without a loss and 6 unbeaten at home. A draw will not be a welcome result for either team, as they both missed out on an opportunity to add to their tournament resume and draw nearer to the top 8 of the ACC, which would come with the right to host an ACC tournament game. This was a match that was largely played in Wake’s half, but some drama on both ends in the last 20 minutes made it so the points would be shared.
The Deacs got off to a nightmare start in this game, as, in the 2nd minute, a Grayson Carter delivery from a corner kick struck the arm of Wake winger Alfred Debah in the penalty area, giving the Panthers an early penalty kick. Midfielder Arnau Vilamitjana stepped up to take the spot kick, but Wake keeper Jonah Mednard made a huge save to deny Vilamitjana’s effort. The rebound came out to the feet of Lasse Dahl inside the area, but Mednard popped back up to make a save on his attempt and then denied Vilamitjana a second time, tipping his headed effort over the crossbar, somehow keeping the game tied. Pitt continued to dominate the early going of the match, though, nearly grabbing the lead again in the 13th minute through Vilamitjana, who was able to rise up and meet a great cross into the area from Grayson Carter and nod it towards goal, but Jonah Mednard was able to get down to his left and make another fantastic save to keep the Panthers off the board. Following this spell of Pitt dominance, the Deacs were able to get into the game a bit more, turning it into more of an end-to-end affair. Wake nearly found the lead from a corner kick, as, after midfielder Joel Torbic’s initial service was headed clear, midfielder Jose Perez was able to latch onto the clearance and strike the ball towards goal from outside the area, but his effort that looked to be destined for the bottom corner was deflected wide by defender Jackson Gilman. In the 34th minute, the Deacs had another passing glance at goal, as a poor touch from right back Gavin Wetzel was picked up by forward Harvey Sarajian just outside the penalty area, who slipped in winger Jeffrey White on the left side of the box, but White’s effort went well over the crossbar. In the 41st minute, it was the Panthers who had another dangerous opportunity, and it was once again a Grayson Carter cross finding the head of Arnau Vilamitjana, but Mednard pulled out another spectacular save to deny the Spaniard for a fourth time, clawing his effort wide of the post. When the buzzer sounded to end the first half, despite a 10-2 Pitt advantage in shots and an equally lopsided disparity in the quality of each team’s chances, the score remained tied 0-0 going into the break.
In the second half the Deacs struggled to get anything going, hardly having a kick in the Panthers’ half for the vast majority of the 45 minutes. They defended valiantly in their own end, but Pitt looked as if they were getting closer and closer to a goal, not creating shots at the same volume as they did in the first half, but finding themselves consistently in dangerous positions. In the 71st minute, they fired a warning shot, with the a loose touch from Amoni Thomas being claimed by the Panthers in the Deacs’ third. A ball across from Anders Bordoy was deflected and then headed clear by Travis Smith Jr., but that clearance fell right to the feet of Arnau Vilamitjana, who slipped Grayson Carter in behind. Carter would play the ball across to Lasse Dahl on the left side of the six yard box, but he couldn’t strike the ball cleanly, with his effort rolling harmlessly into the hands of Jonah Mednard. Just seconds later, though, a calamitous error would give the Panthers the lead. The Deacs looked to play out of the back with their ensuing possession, with midfielder Cooper Flax playing the ball back to Mednard in net after a few passes between Wake defenders. Under some pressure from Grayson Carter, Mednard took a heavy touch to his left, and forward Albert Thorsen would pounce, beating the Wake keeper to the ball and tapping it into an open net for his 3rd goal of the season to give Pitt the lead.
Following the goal, the Deacs made a couple of substitutions up front, most notably putting in striker Chandler Young and putting forward Harvey Sarajian back into the game, and this yielded much more positive play. In the 79th minute, though, the Panthers nearly iced the game, with a brilliant feed from Grayson Carter finding its way into the path of Tomas Bedouret striding into the penalty area nearly unmarked, but Bedouret would drag his effort wide of the post for a goal kick. Then, in the 84th minute, the Deacs would find themselves up a player. Jeffrey White was able to cut out a pass up the left flank from Bedouret, launching it ahead towards Chandler Young. It looked as if Pitt center back Niklas Sorensen was going to win the foot race and snuff out the danger, but, after a poor attempt to pass the ball back to keeper Jack Moxom, it looked as if Young would beat Sorensen to the ball and go through on goal. Rather than giving up a breakaway opportunity, Sorensen pulled Young down just outside the penalty area, and he was given his marching orders from the referee, earning a red card for denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity. From there, the Deacs pushed on for an equalizer, nearly finding it in the 88th minute, when a wonderful ball from Harvey Sarajian just outside the area found an unmarked Jeffrey White on the far side of the box, but Jackson Gilman was able to come across and get a touch on White’s shot attempt, deflecting it just wide of the post for a corner kick. From that corner kick, though, the Deacs would find their equalizer, as Cooper Flax put a cross into the box that was flicked on brilliantly by Harvey Sarajian over Jack Moxom, and, despite an attempt by Arnau Vilamitjana to clear it off the line, the ball would bounce into the goal to tie the score at the very end. That proved to be the final chance for either team in this one, and, one the buzzer sounded, the points would be shared after a 1-1 draw.
It’s far from a great result for a Wake team in desperate need of wins at this stage in the season, but it was another gutsy performance and late goal to earn them a result in a game they deserved to lose on the balance of play. For player of the match honors, a fair few come to mind. Grayson Carter was immense all night for the Panthers and deserved an assist for his performance, Harvey Sarajian was extremely impactful in limited minutes in this game, scoring the all important tying goal, and Albert Thorsen brought a ton of fight and energy all night that was rewarded with a goal. For me though, the player of the match in this one was Jonah Mednard. Although the Wake keeper did have the turnover that gave the Panthers their lone goal of the evening, without Mednard, this scoreline could have been much, much uglier. He had 6 saves on the night including 1 on a penalty kick and several other fantastic stops, so, despite his costly error, his performance overall was excellent and deserving of recognition.
The Demon Deacons will return to action next Friday, 10/31, when they take on Notre Dame in their season finale at Spry. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM EDT, and the game will be broadcast on ACCNX/ESPN+.
