The Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-3-3, 1-3-1 ACC) finally returned to winning ways on Saturday, earning a 2-1 win in Berkeley against the Cal Golden Bears (4-6-2, 1-4-1 ACC). It was the Deacs’ first ACC victory
of the season and a sorely needed one, as this result ended a 2 game skid and a 3 game losing streak in conference. As for the Golden Bears, this was a 4th straight ACC loss and another loss on their home patch, as they now hold an 0-3-2 record at Edwards Stadium. The Golden Bears will be sorely disappointed to drop this game, as, not only did this likely put a nail in their tournament ambitions, on the balance of the match, they were likely the better of the two teams. In the end, though, the Deacs were able to suffer for the three points and come back to Winston with an important conference victory.
In the first half, it was all Golden Bears. Cal’s pressure was suffocating, and the Deacs could hardly get the ball out of their own half. Cal tested Wake keeper Jonah Mednard early, taking 5 shots in the first 15 minutes, but Mednard was up for the challenge. In the 15th minute, Wake was caught playing out of the back, and, after some quick passing play up the left flank, the ball came across for forward Malcom Zalayet in the six yard area. Zalayet stretched out for the ball and directed it forward, but Mednard was able to come out and make a point-blank save to keep the score tied. Then, in the 17th minute, the Deacs struck. The goal came from absolutely nothing: after some good defending from Callen Lewis to earn a goal kick for the Golden Bears, goalkeeper Marco Brougher made a cataclysmic error, completely scuffing a long ball forward. The ball bounced at the top of the box and spun back into the area, with Wake forward Harvey Sarajian winning the foot race with Cal center back Beau Morrison and calmly sliding it across to midfielder Basit Umar, who put it into the open goal for his 4th of the season to make it 1-0. It was one for the blooper reels, but regardless of how it came, it gave Wake a critical lead.
The Golden Bears were undaunted by this mistake, however, and continued to control the game. Only 5 minutes after the goal, Cal nearly pulled level, with Callen Lewis putting a wonderful cross into the area for Noe Morales, who whipped a header towards goal, but his effort came off of the crossbar and came out. In the 32nd minute, Jonah Mednard came up big again, as another Wake turnover led to a great ball in behind by midfielder Gaku Nishimura to Lewis again. Lewis was able to stride into the penalty area, but some last ditch defending from center back Travis Smith Jr. took a lot of the sting out of Lewis’s shot, and Mednard was able to read the deflection and parry it out. This was the story of much of the first half, with an embattled Wake backline putting their bodies on the line to repel the waves of Golden Bear attacks plunging into their penalty area. In the 38th minute, though, Cal would get a golden opportunity to level the score. After Wake was unable to clear an awkward ball into the penalty area, it bounced into the path of Malcom Zalayet, who flicked it around Joel Torbic and then got another touch ahead of center back Daniel Krueger, who booted the bottom of Zalayet’s foot and was called for a foul in the area, giving Cal a penalty kick. After a short video review confirmed the foul, wingback Alfredo Ortiz stepped up to take the penalty, but he dragged his effort wide of the goal, wasting a massive chance to tie the game and take momentum into the half. Although Cal continued to push for the remaining 7 minutes afterwards, when the first 45 minutes were up, they had nothing to show for their dominance, as the Deacs went into the break leading 1-0.
The second half proved to be a much more even matchup, with both sides having their fair share of chances. The Deacs nearly doubled their lead in the early going. In the 51st minute, a wonderful switch from left back Cristian Escribano found its way to winger Jeffrey White on the right side of the penalty area, who was able to cut it back to Basit Umar near the penalty spot. Umar was able to direct a shot on goal, but goalkeeper Connor Lambe, who came on for Marco Brougher at halftime, made a wonderful save down to his left to deny the Wake midfielder. Only moments later, in the 52nd minute, the Golden Bears found their equalizer. A long throw in from center back D’Andre Pickett was flicked on by Malcom Zalayet to the back post, where midfielder Kieran Bracken Serra met the ball with a spectacular overhead kick into the side netting for his first goal of the season to tie the game up at one apiece.
The game kept up its frenetic pace after the tying goal, with both sides pushing hard for a winner. Only seconds after Cal evened the score, Connor Lambe came up huge for them again, making another great save on a long distance strike from midfielder Jose Perez. In the 59 minute, Cal almost took the lead on a blooper at the other end, as some miscommunication between Daniel Krueger and Jonah Mednard on a flick on from Malcom Zelayet allowed forward Rohan McEligot to get a touch on the ball inside the penalty area with the keeper out of position, but his touch was not clean and Mednard was able to gather it. In the 68th minute, the Deacs nearly found a tiebreaking goal again, as a counter attack led by winger Vlad Walent had the Deacs 4 on 5 with the Cal defense, but, after putting a great ball into the path of forward Ethan Subachan inside, Subachan’s touch was too heavy, and Connor Lambe was able to come out and claim the ball. In the 72nd minute, it was the Golden Bears with a great opportunity once more, with substitute midfielder Junhwan Park finding himself unmarked in the area on a cross from the right flank, but he looped his header over the crossbar.
The game was wide open at this point, with both teams having dangerous attacking plays, and creating them with some frequency. With both teams needing the win, the last ten minutes were hectic. The Golden Bears came across with one last haymaker in the 84th minute from a corner kick, as Alfredo Ortiz put an inswinging ball into the area. It was an awkward one to deal with, and it actually struck the crossbar and came back out into the path of Junhwan Park in the six yard area, but winger Tate Lorentz was able to come across and block his shot. In the end though, the Deacs would land the knockout punch in the 86th minute. After right back Amoni Thomas was able to win the ball back from Junhwan Park near midfield, he played it ahead to Tate Lorentz, who switched the field to Harvey Sarajian on the opposite flank. Sarajian drew Callen Lewis and Cam Wilkerson with him, and, after riding a challenge from Lewis, he was able to dribble around Wilkerson, who then slid in at the top of the penalty area and brought down Sarajian, giving the Deacs a penatly kick. After a short video review confirmed the foul was in the area, midfielder Cooper Flax stepped up and slotted it in for his 5th goal of the season to give Wake a late lead. While Cal pushed hard over the next 4 minutes to try salvage a result, this lead would hold, and Wake would finally get their first conference win and first road win of the season.
While it certainly wasn’t pretty, this was a performance where the Deacs showed a lot of character. There were a few players that were deserving of player of the match in this one. Jonah Mednard put in another strong performance, making 6 saves in the victory; Cal’s Malcolm Zalayet had his fingerprints all over this one, assisting the goal and providing some excellent link up play for his team; and Cooper Flax is deserving of praise for burying the decisive spot kick. But, for me, the player of the match in this game was winger Harvey Sarajian. The Georgia Southern transfer hasn’t had the season he would have hoped for so far in his first year with the Deacs, but he had an impactful 52 minutes on Saturday, setting up Basit Umar on the first goal for his first assist of the year and winning the crucial penalty kick that ended up deciding the game. It was probably his best performance of the season, and it could not have come at a more important time for Wake.
The Demon Deacons will return to action on Friday, 10/17, at Spry in Winston-Salem, where they will take on the Louisville Cardinals. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM EDT, and the game will be broadcast on ACCNX/ESPN+.
