MEN'S SOCCER at No. 2 Wake Forest
WHEN: Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 | 7 p.m.
WHERE: Winston-Salem, N.C. | Spry Stadium
RECORDS: Mason (2-3-0, 1-0-0 A-10); Wake Forest (7-0-0, 2-0-0 ACC)
SERIES RECORD: Wake Forest leads, 4-0-0
LAST MEETING:  The Demon Deacons defeated the Patriots, 1-0, on Sept. 20, 2021 at George Mason Stadium.
WATCH ($): ESPN+
LIVE STATS: Click here FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's soccer team travels to take on No. 2 Wake Forest in a non-conference match on Tuesday, with the opening kick scheduled for 7 p.m. at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
 
Last time out, the Patriots (2-3-0, 1-0-0 A-10) defeated St. Bonaventure, 2-1, on Saturday at George Mason Stadium.  Junior midfielder Henry Wachsman scored his first collegiate goal late in the second half to lift the Patriots to the win in the Atlantic 10 opener.

Junior midfielder Balint Kocso scored his first goal of the season, junior forward Ishmail Kamara registered his first assist of the season, and freshmen midfielders Zach Eichelberger and Nicholas Prioli each notched their first collegiate assist in the match. 

The victory snapped an 18-game winless streak for Patriots against conference opponents.  The win was Mason's first against an Atlantic 10 foe since Oct. 12, 2019, when the Patriots defeated Davidson in double overtime, 2-1.

Graduate student forward Noah Raphael leads the club in goals (2) and points (4) in five games played with two starts.  Graduate student Ariel Aguas leads the team in shots (10) and shots on goal (5) and has scored one goal with one assist for three points in five starts.

Graduate student goalkeeper Jake Langley (2-3-0, 1.60 GAA, 450 MIN) has started every match for the Patriots with 15 saves and eight goals against.

The Patriots look for their third straight victory when they take the pitch against the Demon Deacons.  Mason has won back-to-back games for the first time since a four-game winning streak Oct. 27-Nov. 9, 2018.

Mason is meeting Wake Forest for the fifth time in program history and for the third time in Winston-Salem, N.C.  The Demon Deacons are 4-0-0 against the Patriots.

Wake Forest has posted two victories at home by scores of 1-0 (Oct. 18, 2000) and 2-1 (Sept. 16, 2003), and two wins in Fairfax by scores of 3-1 (Sept. 2, 2001) and 1-0 (Sept. 20, 2021) in the all-time series.

Last season, Mason fell to Wake Forest, 1-0, on Sept. 20, 2021 at George Mason Stadium.  The two teams remained scoreless after the first half.  The Demon Deacons recorded seven shots, while the Patriots did not register a shot in the first 45 minutes.
 
Wake Forest midfielder Jake Swallen scored the eventual game-winner late in the second half when he found the lower left corner of the net from just outside the 18, with midfielder Chase Oliver picking up the assist on the play.
 
The Demon Deacons outshot the Patriots 18-3, including a 10-1 advantage in shots on goal.  Wake Forest finished with six corner kicks, while Mason was held without a corner kick in the match last season.

ABOUT THE PATRIOTS
 
The Patriots have 20 returners and 13 newcomers on the roster heading into the season under first-year head coach Rich Costanzo (Maryland, '08).

Assistant coaches Noel Orozco (St. Bonaventure, '17) and Michael Callahan (North Carolina, '08) each enter their first year with the Patriots.

Returning seniors from last year's squad are forward Kent Harrison (Newcastle, Australia), midfielder Cameron Revels (Clover, S.C.) and defender Jonathan Fawole (Columbia, Md.).  Returning juniors are forwards Nicolas Alt (Basel, Switzerland) and Ishmail Kamara (Woodbridge, Va.), midfielders Louis Lehr (Dielheim, Germany) and Henry Wachsman (Barrington, Ill.), along with defender Noah McGrath (Melbourne, Australia).

Mason has 11 sophomores on the roster with forwards Balint Kocso (Munich, Germany), Michael Medina (Central Islip, N.Y.), midfielders Jose Alvarado (Alexandria, Va.), and Darri Palsson (Kópavogur, Iceland), defenders Valentin Brandis (Hamburg, Germany), Marcel Cole (Mosley, Va.), Linus Dahl (Königstein im Taunus, Germany), Ahmed Mohamed (Cairo, Egypt), Joshua Morrobel (Burke, Va.) and goalkeepers Matthew Bauer (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) and Billy Schutze (Wayne, N.J.).

The Patriots added two graduate students, forward Noah Raphael (Calvert County, Md.) and midfielder Ariel Aguas (Quito, Ecuador), in addition to senior goalkeeper Jake Langley (Villanova, Pa.).

The Patriots have 11 freshman on the roster with midfielders Zach Eichelberger (Baltimore, Md.), Zach Golden and Nicholas Prioli (Houston, Texas), defenders Eric Allen (Columbia, Md.), Jaden Berman (Winchester, Va.), Will Carson (Wheeling, W.Va.), Chase Hutson (Fairfax, Va.), Nathan Montini (Braselton, Ga.), Kunandy Ouattara (Alexandria, Va.) and Christian Xantus (Woodbridge, Va.) and goalkeeper Jack Desroches (Virginia Beach, Va.).

The Green and Gold kicked off the season at Old Dominion on Aug. 26 (1-0, Old Dominion) and American on Sept. 2 (2-1, American) in the first two games of seven non-conference matches.

Mason then played three straight games at George Mason Stadium, the longest homestand of the season.  The Patriots hosted Penn State on Sept. 5 in the home opener (3-1, Nittany Lions), Radford on Sept. 10 (3-1, Patriots) and played their first conference match of the season against St. Bonaventure on Sept. 17 (2-1, Patriots).
Mason plays seven games in September, with four on the road and three at home. 

The Patriots will play a season-high four straight matches on the road from Sept. 20 through Oct. 1, alternating non-conference and league games. 

The Patriots make the trek to take on Wake Forest (Sept. 20), play their first A-10 road game against Davidson (Sept. 24), visit William & Mary (Sept. 27) and travel to Dayton (Oct. 1).

The match against the Flyers is the first of seven that the Patriots will play in October, with four at home and three on the road.

Mason returns to Fairfax to continue league play against La Salle (Oct. 5) and Duquesne (Oct. 8).  After an A-10 road matchup at Rhode Island (Oct. 15), the Patriots are back home for a non-conference game against UNCW (Oct. 18).  Rhode Island finished second in the A-10 last season with a 5-2-1 record and went 10-5-2 overall.

The Patriots travel to face in-state rival VCU (Oct. 22) and conclude the regular season at home against the George Washington Colonials (Oct. 29) in a Revolutionary Rivalry contest.

This season, the Patriots are scheduled to play 15 regular season games, a slate that includes two matches against NCAA Tournament teams.  Mason will play seven home games, three against non-conference opponents and four against Atlantic 10 rivals.

SCOUTING WAKE FOREST

No. 2 Wake Forest enters the match with a 7-0-0 overall record, including a mark of 2-0-0 against Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponents.  The Demon Deacons are 5-0-0 at home and 2-0-0 on the road.

The Demon Deacons have won 12 straight home matches, the longest streak in the nation.  The 12 consecutive home victories is tied for the longest in program history (the first 12 home matches in 2018). 

Wake Forest is one of only three unbeaten programs remaining this season.

Last time out, Wake Forest junior midfielder Colin Thomas scored his first goal of the season in the 52nd minute to lift the Demon Deacons to a 1-0 victory over Virginia Tech on Friday at Thompson Field in Blacksburg, Va. The Demon Deacons outshot the Hokies, 16-5, including an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal.

Sophomore forward Roald Mitchell leads the club in goals (6), points (13), shots (21) and shots on goal (13) in seven starts.  Junior defender Hosei Kijima is second on the team in goals (2) and is tied for second in points (5).  Freshman midfielder Cooper Flax paces the Demon Deacons in assists (3) and is tied for second in points (5).

Sophomore goalkeeper Trace Alphin (6-0-0, 0.50, 540 MIN) has recorded four shutouts in six starts.  He has made nine saves and allowed three goals against.

CORNER KICK
 
Wake Forest has won 12 straight home matches and can set a new program record with its 13th consecutive win at Spry Stadium. 

Over their last 12 home games, the Demon Deacons have outscored their opponents by a combined 37-6, including seven shutouts.