# 2024 Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's soccer team

The 2024 Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2024 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Demon Deacons were led by head coach Tony Da Luz, in his twenty-eighth season. They played their home games at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. This was the team's 30th season playing organized women's college soccer, all of which have been played in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Demon Deacons started the season unranked and went 3–0–1 in their first four non conference games. They played two Power 4 opponents over this span, and drew at Rutgers and defeated twentieth ranked Mississippi State at home. The win over Mississippi State saw them rise to eighteenth in the rankings. However, they lost to Iowa and fell out of the rankings. They defeated two non-Power 4 schools to finish the non-conference regular season 5–1–1. They opened ACC play with a loss to tenth ranked North Carolina. However, they followed that with an upset of second ranked Virginia which saw them re-enter the rankings at number thirteen. In their next match they defeated first ranked Stanford. After drawing with California they rose to number five in the rankings. A defeat of Syracuse saw them rise to number four before their match-up with Florida State, which the Demon Deacons would in emphatically 4–1. The win saw them rise to number two. Their only loss as the second ranked team in the nation came against first ranked Duke.
The Demon Deacons finished the regular season 12–3–2 overall and 7–2–1 in ACC ACC play to finish in a tie for second place. As the third seed in the ACC Tournament they earned a bye to the Semifinals where they met third seed and sixth ranked Florida State. The game was closer than it was in the regular season and Florida State prevailed in a penalty shoot-out. They received an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. They were selected as the second seed in the Southern California Bracket. They defeated Morehead State in the First Round, Colorado in the Second Round, and third-seed and tenth ranked Ohio State in the Round of 16. They traveled to Southern California to face the first seed and fourth ranked Trojans in the Quarterfinals. Wake Forest prevailed in a penalty shoot-out to advance to the Semfinals. There they faced regular season opponent Stanford, and again won 1–0. They faced another regular season foe in the Final, North Carolina. The Demon Deacons again could not defeat the Tar Heels and finished as runners-up. Their final record was 16–4–4.

## Previous season

The Demon Deacons finished the season 10–2–5 overall and 4–2–4 in ACC ACC play to finish in sixth place. They qualified for the ACC Tournament as the sixth seed, and lost in the First Round to Clemson. They were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Madison Howard | 00 | GK | 5'8" | Senior | Greensboro, North Carolina | Graduated; transferred to Northwestern |
| Reese Kim | 2 | MF | 5'5" | Junior | Manhattan Beach, California | Graduated |
| Kristi Vierra | 8 | MF | 5'7" | Senior | Norwell, Massachusetts | Graduated |
| Liv Stowell | 11 | FW | 5'4" | Senior | Londonderry, New Hampshire | Graduated |
| Carrie McIntire | 14 | FW | 5'9" | Senior | Haymarket, Virginia | Graduated; transferred to Johns Hopkins |
| Baylor Goldthwaite | 21 | MF | 5'5" | Sophomore | Durham, North Carolina | Transferred to Boston College |
| Sasha Schwartz | 22 | DF | 5'6" | Senior | New York City, New York | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Paige Nurkin | 0 | GK | 6'0" | Graduate Student | Charlotte, North Carolina | Columbia |
| Emily Colton | 3 | MF | 5'3" | Senior | Carlsbad, California | North Carolina |

### Recruiting class

| Name | Hometown | Club |
| Chloe Burst FW | New Orleans, Louisiana | Challenge SC |
| Amaya Dawkins MF | Wylie, Texas | FC Dallas (ECNL) |
| Josephine Noble FW | Wilmette, Illinois | Eclipse Select (IL) |
| Miri O'Donnell FW | San Ramon, California | Mountain View Los Altos SC |
| Lola Ressler MF | Winter Garden, Florida | Orlando City SC (ECNL) |
| Tahlia Zadeyan DF | La Jolla, California | Del Mar Carmel Valley Sharks |
| Mariner Headrick FW | Madrid, Spain | Atlético Madrid |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of February 7, 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 0 | GK | USA | Paige Nurkin |
| 1 | GK | USA | Valentina Amaral |
| 2 | MF | USA | Amaya Dawkins |
| 3 | MF | USA | Emily Colton |
| 4 | MF | CAN | Nikayla Small |
| 5 | DF | USA | MJ Osborne |
| 6 | MF | USA | Dempsey Brown |
| 7 | DF | ISL | Kristin Johnson |
| 8 | FW | USA | Chloe Burst |
| 9 | MF | USA | Caiya Hanks |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Malaika Meena |
| 13 | MF | USA | Emily Morris |
| 14 | MF | USA | Lola Ressler |
| 15 | DF | USA | Sammi Wiemann |
| 16 | FW | USA | Alex Wood |
| 17 | DF | USA | Tyla Ochoa |
| 18 | DF | USA | Kate Dobsch |
| 19 | FW | USA | Sierra Sythe |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | USA | Hannah Johnson |
| 22 | MF | USA | Josie Nobel |
| 23 | DF | USA | Allie Schmidt |
| 24 | DF | USA | Zara Chavoshi |
| 25 | MF | USA | Sophie Faircloth |
| 26 | DF | USA | Taryn Chance |
| 27 | DF | USA | Nadia DeMarinis |
| 28 | MF | USA | Carly Wilson |
| 29 | DF | USA | Olivia DeMarinis |
| 30 | MF | USA | Anna Swanson |
| 31 | MF | USA | Olivia Duvall |
| 32 | MF | USA | Emily Silva |
| 33 | DF | USA | Abbie Colton |
| 34 | DF | USA | Laurel Ansbrow |
| 35 | FW | IRL | Emily Murphy |
| 39 | DF | USA | Laine DeNatale |
| 88 | GK | USA | Peyton Cahill |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Head Coach | Tony Da Luz |
| Associate Head Coach | Brittany Cameron |
| Assistant Coach | Courtney Drummond |
| Assistant Coach | Taylor Culp |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 7* 7:00 p.m. | | James Madison | None Reported | — | Spry Stadium Winston-Salem, NC |
| August 10* 7:00 p.m. | | at No. 21 South Carolina | None Reported | — | Stone Stadium Columbia, SC |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| August 15* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Army | W 1–0 | 1–0–0 | Clinton Field (300) West Point, NY |
| August 18* 1:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Rutgers | T 1–1 | 1–0–1 | Yurcak Field (906) Piscataway, NJ |
| August 22* 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Temple | W 4–0 | 2–0–1 | Spry Stadium (2,237) Winston-Salem, NC |
| August 25* 2:00 p.m., ACCN | | No. 20 Mississippi State | W 2–1 | 3–0–1 | Spry Stadium (933) Winston-Salem, NC |
| August 29* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | No. 18 | at Richmond | Cancelled | 3–0–1 | President's Field Richmond, VA |
| September 1* 6:00 p.m., BTN+ | No. 18 | at Iowa | L 0–2 | 3–1–1 | UI Soccer Complex (1,563) Iowa City, IA |
| September 5* 4:00 p.m., FloFC | | at Villanova | W 1–0 | 4–1–1 | Higgins Soccer Complex (397) Villanova, PA |
| September 8* 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | UNC Asheville | W 5–0 | 5–1–1 | Spry Stadium (758) Winston-Salem, NC |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 12 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at No. 10 North Carolina | L 0–1 | 5–2–1 (0–1–0) | Dorrance Field (2,942) Chapel Hill, NC |
| September 15 12:00 p.m., ACCN | | at No. 2 Virginia | W 3–0 | 6–2–1 (1–1–0) | Klöckner Stadium (1,402) Charlottesville, VA |
| September 19 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 13 | No. 1 Stanford | W 1–0 | 7–2–1 (2–1–0) | Spry Stadium (1,229) Winston-Salem, NC |
| September 22 12:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 13 | California | T 2–2 | 7–2–2 (2–1–1) | Spry Stadium (855) Winston-Salem, NC |
| September 29 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 5 | at Syracuse | W 3–0 | 8–2–2 (3–1–1) | SU Soccer Stadium (944) Syracuse, NY |
| October 3 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | No. 6 Florida State | W 4–1 | 9–2–2 (4–1–1) | Spry Stadium (1,621) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 19 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 2 | at SMU | W 2–1 | 10–2–2 (5–1–1) | Washburne Stadium (933) Dallas, TX |
| October 24 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 2 | at Pittsburgh | W 2–0 | 11–2–2 (6–1–1) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (759) Pittsburgh, PA |
| October 27 6:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 2 | No. 1 Duke | L 0–2 | 11–3–2 (6–2–1) | Spry Stadium (3,761) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 31 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 3 | NC State | W 3–0 | 12–3–2 (7–2–1) | Spry Stadium (894) Winston-Salem, NC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 7 5:30 p.m., ACCN | (2) No. 3 | vs. (3) No. 6 Florida State Semifinals | T 1–1 (1–3 PKs) | 12–3–3 | WakeMed Soccer Park (1,065) Cary, NC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 15 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 3 | Morehead State First Round | W 4–0 | 13–3–3 | Spry Stadium (601) Winston-Salem, NC |
| November 22 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 3 | Colorado Second Round | W 3–1 | 14–3–3 | Spry Stadium (612) Winston-Salem, NC |
| November 24 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 3 | (3) No. 10 Ohio State Round of 16 | W 1–0 | 15–3–3 | Spry Stadium (870) Winston-Salem, NC |
| November 29 5:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (2) No. 3 | at (1) No. 4 USC Quarterfinals | T 2–2 (4–3 PKs) $^{2OT}$ | 15–3–4 | Dignity Health Sports Park (1,208) Carson, CA |
| December 6 5:00 p.m., ESPNU | (2) No. 3 | vs. (3) No. 14т Stanford Semifinals | W 1–0 | 16–3–4 | WakeMed Soccer Park (10,333) Cary, NC |
| December 9 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | (2) No. 3 | (2) No. 8 North Carolina Final | L 0–1 | 16–4–4 | WakeMed Soccer Park (9,475) Cary, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Caiya Hanks | ACC Offensive Player of the Week – Week 5 | September 17 |
| Emily Colton | ACC Offensive Player of the Week – Week 6 | September 24 |
| Emily Murphy | ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week – Week 8 | October 7, 2024 |
| Caiya Hanks | All-ACC First Team | November 6, 2024 |
| Zara Chavoshi | All-ACC Second Team | November 6, 2024 |
| Emily Colton | All-ACC Second Team | November 6, 2024 |
| Emily Murphy | All-ACC Second Team | November 6, 2024 |
| Valentina Amaral | All-ACC Third Team | November 6, 2024 |
| Emily Morris | All-ACC Tournament Team | November 10, 2024 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| United Soccer | RV | RV | 18 | RV | RV | 13 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 2 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | — | — | 20 | 20 | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |