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WFU soccer teams in spotlight
No. 1 men to play Virginia Tech; No. 12 women against No. 2 UNC
Brian Westerholt Photo /Courtesy of Wake Forest
Amanda Lebo will help lead the No. 12 Wake Forest soccer team against No. 2 UNC at Spry Stadium on Sunday.
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Published: October 4, 2008
The Wake Forest soccer teams will each face stiff ACC challenges at Spry Stadium this weekend, starting tonight when the No. 1-ranked men's team plays Virginia Tech at 7 in a rematch of a College Cup semifinal from last season.
On Sunday, the 12th-ranked Wake Forest women will play No. 2 North Carolina at 3 p.m.
Men's coach Jay Vidovich said that tonight's match is just one of the big games his team will play this season. The Deacons (9-0) defeated the Hokies 2-0 last year in the College Cup semis and went on to win the national championship.
"It's another big ACC game in our minds," Vidovich said. "It's kind of nice for our marketing department to promote it, because Virginia Tech was in the College Cup last year, but I think on the other side of that, we aren't the same team as last year, and they aren't the same team as last year."
Virginia Tech is 3-5-1 and coming off a 2-1 win over George Washington.
Last season, Tech and Wake Forest tied 3-3 in a regular-season match in Blacksburg, Va.
Vidovich said he expects a big crowd for tonight's game and wouldn't mind a little extra support with the Wake Forest football team off this weekend.
"We'd love to sell the place out, but I just want us to put on a good show for whoever comes to the game," Vidovich said.
Last season, the Deacons had some injury problems at about this point in the season, but Vidovich said that isn't the case now. "Right now everybody is pretty healthy, and that's a plus," he said.
If the Wake Forest women needed a diversion to forget the end of their 14-match home unbeaten streak, they have it.
North Carolina has a 22-1 all-time record against Wake Forest, which fell to 8-2 overall and 1-1 in the ACC with a 1-0 loss to Boston College last Sunday. It was the Deacons' first home loss since Nov. 12, 2006 (2-0 to Virginia), but they could easily forget that with a win over the Tar Heels.
"They are all big, but this one has a little bit more big to it," Coach Tony da Luz of Wake Forest said. "We are approaching this game as if it has no history. These are two totally different teams than any other time. Our team this year has never played this edition of the Tar Heels. As far as we are concerned, it has no history. It's one game.
"Hopefully the last game motivates us. We feel like we dropped three points and didn't take advantage of the opportunity. We definitely had chances to win that game, and it's a game we fully expected to win at home. We have to make up the points somewhere. Hopefully, it will be this weekend."
Wake Forest's lone win in the series was a 1-0 victory at Spry Stadium in 2000. UNC beat Wake Forest 1-0 last season and has outscored Wake Forest by a combined 18-0 over the last five meetings, dating to 2003.
When the teams met last season, da Luz said that his Deacons seemed to be getting the better of play until midfielder Amanda Lebo suffered a severely broken ankle. da Luz said that the injury was so unsightly that it changed the complexion of the game for both teams.
"Up until that point, we were doing very well and pressuring," da Luz said. "We showed a lot to stay in the game to keep it at 1-0. Amanda is back and playing well, and she really wants to make an impact as a senior in this game. She was out for quite a while, had to have surgery and pins put in and a lot of things.
"We are very motivated."
Chances are, Wake Forest will have to take advantage of its opportunities against a North Carolina team that has scored in bunches. The Tar Heels, 10-1-1 overall and 3-0 in the ACC after beating Duke 3-0 on Thursday, have scored at least three goals in nine games and have scored 28 goals in their last six games.
"They are just sustaining pressure on teams, and I know on Maryland they scored three times very early," da Luz said.
"It's kind of a wear and tear on you. You have to be in it for 90 minuets and expect their best effort for 90 minutes.
"They have a lot of athleticism, and they have their sub patterns, and every 20 minutes or so, they rotate players. So they are able to kind of exploit the other team's weaknesses just by keeping fresh bodies and playing at a very high sprinting level. They are always running around pressuring the ball and trying to pressure you into making mistakes."
It will be North Carolina's first visit to Spry Stadium since 2005, when it won 4-0.
"We haven't had Carolina at home in a couple of years," da Luz said. "We had to play them two years in a row at their place, and we are really excited to have them back here.
"We are trying to get that across that last year was a very, very close game. We have six seniors and six juniors on this team that are the bulk of our starting lineup. They have played them before, and they know what's up. They are extremely motivated, and I think having them at home will give us a lot of confidence."
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
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