Senior forward Marcus Tracy scored his fourth goal of the season in the 75th minute to lead No. 1 Wake Forest (4-0-0) to a 1-0 win against South Carolina (1-2-1) yesterday at Spry Stadium.
"I thought our performance was good enough to get the result we wanted," Coach Jay Vidovich said. "Our guys played good enough to get the win."
Wake Forest controlled the game statistically, outshooting South Carolina 12-4, including a 5-2 advantage in shots on goal. Wake Forest had four corner kicks, while the Gamecocks did not attempt a corner.
Junior goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald recorded his third straight shutout, making one save. Fitzgerald has not allowed a goal in the last 310:09 minutes.
The goal was set up when freshman Luke Norman dribbled around several defenders and drew a free kick at the top of the 18-yard box. Sam Cronin took the free kick, sending a short ball to Jamie Franks.
Franks sent the ball back to Tracy, who fired from 21 yards out. The ball deflected off a South Carolina player and went into the left side of the net, past the diving South Carolina keeper to give Wake Forest a 1-0 lead.
"Luke (Norman) did a good job of finding a goal-scoring chance for us by getting fouled near the box," Vidovich said. "Tracy had a great finish to score the goal."
South Carolina had its best scoring chance of the game in the 86th minute. Schuyler Reardon of South Carolina threw the ball into the 18-yard box. Fitzgerald lost control of the ball. Stephen Morrissey got a head on the ball from five yards out. Senior Lyle Adams was able to make the stop, clearing the ball off the line and sending it away from the net. The Gamecocks did not threaten the rest of the match.
Wake Forest had several good scoring chances in the first 45 minutes. Freshman Corben Bone barely missed two goals, one shot hitting the post and the other just going wide of the left side of the net.
In the first game of the afternoon, North Carolina and UCLA played to a 1-1 tie.
Wake Forest will be back in action on Saturday when it will open its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule against Clemson at Spry Stadium.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement