CARY
Coach Jay Vidovich was in no mood Friday night to discuss the future of his young and talented Wake Forest men's soccer team.
It was soon after a 2-1 overtime loss to Virginia in the College Cup semifinals, and Vidovich was still trying to process what happened.
"I'm not over this to talk about the future," Vidovich said. "Once again, it's a sick feeling to go out, and I wasn't expecting that at all."
The reality for the Deacons: Though they lost for the second straight season in the semifinals (last year they lost 1-0 to North Carolina), they probably did more with less this season.
After losing eight starters from last season's team, the younger Deacons didn't take time to rebuild and instead reloaded with a nice blend of veterans and newcomers. It all added up to another outstanding run in the NCAA Tournament.
What can't be overlooked is the senior class led by Austin da Luz and Zack Schilawski, the team's top two scorers who played their final games Friday. Schilawski set a school record by playing in his 99th game, and he was part of a class that was 78-11-10, which included the national championship in 2007 and four straight College Cup appearances. The senior class also won three ACC regular-season titles and had the best record by a four-year class in school history.
Juniors Corben Bone and Ike Opara, along with goalie Akira Fitzgerald, formed a nucleus upon which Vidovich could count.
"I just look back at this team and what was lost over the last two years in terms of quality players, and for these young men, I thought we played very good soccer, so I'm just proud of them," Vidovich said. "Like Corben Bone always says, the names change at Wake, but the game remains the same."
Bone and Opara, who will both go high in the MLS Draft if they decide to leave school early, have decisions to make, but Fitzgerald said that he will likely return. He was listed as a senior all season on the roster and went through Senior Night in the final regular-season game, but he has one year of eligibility left.
"I'm going to sit down with Coach in a couple of weeks and figure it out," Fitzgerald said, "but I'll probably come back."
The Deacons likely will have defender Danny Wenzel back next season, too. Wenzel, a starter as a freshman in 2008, had knee surgery in the summer and missed this season.
The Deacons have another top-flight recruiting class coming in, so another run to a fifth straight College Cup is a possibility.
"Hopefully the future is bright for this program," Opara said.
Opara, the ACC's defensive player of the year, said that the Deacons had a good run.
"We would have loved to have had the title," Opara said. "We can look back and say we accomplished what nobody thought we could do; unfortunately we didn't finish and get the title."
Bone, the ACC's offensive player of the year and a finalist for the Hermann Trophy Award, scored the tying goal late that led to the overtime. But the Deacons didn't carry that momentum into overtime.
"We had some chances in the game and couldn't find one, and I think after I got my goal the momentum changed and we got a little of our legs back," Bone said. "Momentum was in our hands."
The Cavaliers, however, had other ideas and scored in the third minute of overtime when Brian Ownby got behind the Deacons' defense and scored off a long pass from Jonathan Villanueva.
jdell@wsjournal.com
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