Demon Deacons Open 2022 Season with a 1-0 Victory Against UCF

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Highlighted by a 48th-minute goal from junior Hosei Kijima, Wake Forest's No. 15 ranked men's soccer team (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) picked up a 1-0 victory over UCF (0-1-0, 0-0-0 AAC) to open the 2022 season on Thursday night at Spry Stadium. 

Wake Forest and UCF went into the halftime break knotted at 0-0 despite the Demon Deacons outshooting the Knights 9-3 in the first 45 minutes. The Deacs, however, took the lead just three minutes out of the break, as Kijima stepped in front of UCF goalkeeper Juanvi Muoz to head home the first goal of the season. 

Kijima's strike was the finishing touch on a combination play that featured assists from juniors Oscar Sears and Jahlane Forbes. 

The Deacs will conclude the opening weekend of the season hosting Air Force for the first time in 30 years this Sunday at Spry. The Falcons opened their 2022 campaign with a 2-1 defeat to No. 24 North Carolina. 

Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the match will air on ACC Network Extra. 

How It Happened 

• Wake Forest earned an early second-minute corner kick after junior Hosei Kijima had the first shot of the contest blocked. 

• The Deacs continued the early pressure on the Knights with four shots in the first 11 minutes including a second attempt by Kijima that was headed just wide of the goal. 

• Sophomore Trace Alphin made his first save of the match in the 19th minute, punching wide an attempt by UCF's AJ Seals. 

• Sophomore Leo Guarino was the first substitute to check into the game in the 22nd minute. 

  • In total, 21 different Demon Deacons recorded playing time in the match. 

• Sophomore Julian Kennedy had perhaps the Deacs' best chance in the first half, but his 43rd-minute shot was saved. 

• Just before halftime there was a flurry just in front of Alphin, but the sophomore saved a 44th minute attempt with sophomore Bo Cummins chipping in to slow UCF on the attack. 

• Wake Forest finished the half with a 9-3 advantage in shots and 5-2 advantage in corner kicks. 

• Kijima would get Wake Forest on the board in the 48th minute, heading home a perfectly placed ball from junior midfielder Oscar Sears. Fellow junior Jahlane Forbes also picked up an assist on the strike. 

  • The goal was the fourth of the Yokohama, Japan, native's career, as he also tallied a brace against Boston College as a freshman and a game-winning goal against George Washington last season. 

  • It was the third career assist for Sears and the seventh career assist for Forbes. 

• Wake Forest conceded a free kick in a dangerous spot in the 79th minute, but the ball off the restart went directly to Alphin for his third save on the evening.

• The Deacs nearly got a second goal in the 83rd minute following back-to-back shots from senior Takuma Suzuki and sophomore Roald Mitchell that were both knocked away.

Demon Deacon Details of Note

• With the victory, Wake Forest has now won eight-straight matches at Spry Stadium dating back to a 4-0 victory over William & Mary on Oct. 5, 2021. 

• The Demon Deacons won their season opener for the 34th time in the program's 42-year history. 

• The outcome also moves Wake Forest to 3-0-0 all-time in regular season openers against UCF (2006, 2019 and 2022). 

• The Demon Deacons now lead the all-time series against the Knights 4-0-0. 

• The victory was the 190th of head coach Bobby Muuss' career. 

• Junior Prince Amponsah made his 35th career appearance. 

• Junior Garrison Tubbs made his 35th career appearance. 

• Freshman Julian Kennedy made his 20th career appearance. 

• Redshirt sophomore Cristian Escribano earned the start at right back and made his first appearance since April 2, 2021. 

• Freshmen Cooper Flax and Vlad Walent earned starts in their collegiate debuts. 

From Coach Muuss
"We're overjoyed that we got the win. We started the season 1-0 and it doesn't matter how it looks. We worked hard again. …I think we caused ourselves some problems with some silly turnovers where I didn't think the opponent was getting a lot of pressure on the ball and we played ourselves into some pressure pockets and into some pretty silly decisions as we fatigued. We allowed the game to go end-to-end, which is not something that we wanted to do here tonight. But what I saw was Wake Forest get a clean sheet, which is a goal of ours, and win against what I think is a very, very good, minimal top-25 and NCAA Tournament team."

Up Next

Wake Forest will remain at home to conclude the opening weekend of the season, hosting Air Force in the first meeting between the two programs since the 1992 season. 

Kick-off will be at 7 p.m. and the contest will air on ACC Network Extra.