# 2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's soccer team

The 2023 Wake Forest Demon Deacons women's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. The Demon Deacons were led by head coach Tony Da Luz, in his twenty-seventh season. They played their home games at Spry Stadium. This was the team's 29th season playing organized women's college soccer, all of which have been played in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Demon Deacons started the season well, winning their opening match versus Appalachian State. However, they only managed to tie their next game with Army. That tie would be the only blemish on their non-conference record. Their final record of 6–0–1 included wins over two Power 5 teams. Their ACC season started with a loss to a ranked Notre Dame, a tie, and a win against 22nd ranked Virginia. This earned them a spot in the rankings at number 25. After winning their next game, they moved up to number 17. However, they then hit a rough patch drawing three of the next four games and losing the other game to Pittsburgh. The loss saw them fall out of the rankings. They finished the season with two wins.
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, and lost in the First Round to Clemson. They were not invited to the NCAA Tournament.

## Previous season

The Demon Deacons finished the season 9–7–3 overall and 3–6–1 in ACC ACC play to finish in ninth place. They were not invited to the ACC Tournament, but did receive an at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. As an unseeded team in the Alabama Bracket, they had a First Round match at South Carolina, which they lost 2–0 to end their season.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Kaitlyn Parks | 1 | GK | 5'7" | Senior | Upper Marlboro, Maryland | Graduated |
| Giovanna DeMarco | 3 | MF | 5'7" | Graduate Student | Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania | Graduated; drafted 45th overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft |
| Courtney Evans | 5 | DF | — | Freshman | Springfield, Virginia | — |
| Madeline Allburn | 6 | MF | 5'8" | Junior | Ashburn, Virginia | Graduated |
| Brooke Potter | 15 | FW | 5'5" | Freshman | Williamsburg, Virginia | Transferred to James Madison |
| Lyndon Wood | 19 | MF | 5'9" | Senior | Raleigh, North Carolina | Graduated |
| Aisha Polk | 36 | MF | — | Freshman | Dallas, Texas | — |
| Chidubem Dike | 99 | FW | 5'7" | Freshman | Greenville, South Carolina | Transferred to South Carolina |

### Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Previous School |
| Emily Murphy | 35 | FW | 5'6" | Junior | Windsor, England | North Carolina |

### Recruiting Class

| Name | Hometown | Club |
| Valentina Amaral GK | Oviedo, Florida | Florida Kraze |
| Sarah Brown MF | Winter Park, Florida | Orlando City (ECNL) |
| Mary Jane Osborne MF | Los Altos Hills, California | Mountain View Los Altos SC |
| Sierra Sythe FW | Long Beach, California | Beach FC (CA) |
| Samantha Wiemann DF | San Diego, California | San Diego Surf |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of November 28, 2023
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 |
| 00 | GK | USA | Madison Howard |
| 1 | GK | USA | Valentina Amaral |
| 2 | MF | USA | Reese Kim |
| 4 | MF | CAN | Nikayla Small |
| 5 | DF | USA | MJ Osborne |
| 6 | MF | USA | Dempsey Brown |
| 7 | DF | ISL | Kristin Johnson |
| 8 | MF | USA | Kristi Vierra |
| 9 | MF | USA | Caiya Hanks |
| 10 | MF | ENG | Malaika Meena |
| 11 | FW | USA | Liv Stowell |
| 13 | MF | USA | Emily Morris |
| 14 | FW | USA | Carrie McIntire |
| 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 |
| 21 | MF | USA | Baylor Goldthwaite |
| 22 | DF | USA | Sasha Schwartz |
| 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 | ENG | 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 |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site City, State |
| Non-Conference Regular Season ||||||
| August 17* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Appalachian State | W 1–0 | 1–0–0 | Spry Stadium (751) Winston-Salem, NC |
| August 20* 12:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Army | T 1–1 | 1–0–1 | Spry Stadium (689) Winston-Salem, NC |
| August 24* 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Idaho State | W 3–0 | 2–0–1 | Spry Stadium (484) Winston-Salem, NC |
| August 27* 1:00 p.m., BTN+ | | at Purdue | W 2–0 | 3–0–1 | Folk Field (581) West Lafayette, IN |
| August 31* 6:30 p.m., SECN+ | | at Auburn | W 2–0 | 4–0–1 | Auburn Soccer Complex (780) Auburn, AL |
| September 3* 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Iona | W 6–0 | 5–0–1 | Spry Stadium (748) Winston-Salem, NC |
| September 7* 7:00 p.m. | | at Rhode Island | W 3–1 | 6–0–1 | URI Soccer Complex (75) Kingston, RI |
| September 10* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Brown | Canceled | | Stevenson Field Providence, RI |
| ACC Regular Season ||||||
| September 15 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at No. 13 Notre Dame | L 1–3 | 6–1–1 (0–0–1) | Alumni Stadium (1,372) Notre Dame, IN |
| September 21 8:00 p.m., ACCNX | | NC State | T 1–1 | 6–1–2 (0–1–1) | Spry Stadium (762) Winston-Salem, NC |
| September 24 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 22 Virginia | W 2–0 | 7–1–2 (1–1–1) | Spry Stadium (710) Winston-Salem, NC |
| September 29 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 25 | at Virginia Tech | W 2–0 | 8–1–2 (2–1–1) | Thompson Field (1,107) Blacksburg, VA |
| October 5 6:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 17 | at Syracuse | T 2–2 | 8–1–3 (2–1–2) | SU Soccer Stadium (153) Syracuse, NY |
| October 8 1:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 17 | at Pittsburgh | L 1–4 | 8–2–3 (2–2–2) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (545) Pittsburgh, PA |
| October 13 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 3 North Carolina | T 1–1 | 8–2–4 (2–2–3) | Spry Stadium (1,280) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 19 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | Boston College | T 1–1 | 8–2–5 (2–2–4) | Spry Stadium (606) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 22 12:30 p.m., ACCNX | | Louisville | W 1–0 | 9–2–5 (3–2–4) | Spry Stadium (620) Winston-Salem, NC |
| October 26 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Miami (FL) | W 2–0 | 10–2–5 (4–2–4) | Cobb Stadium (196) Coral Gables, FL |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| October 29 6:00 p.m., ACCN | (6) | at (3) No. 8 Clemson First Round | L 0–1 | 10–3–5 | Riggs Field (795) Clemson, SC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Laurel Ansbrow | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | October 3 |
| Caiya Hanks | All-ACC Second Team | November 1 |
| Dempsey Brown | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 1 |

## 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 |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| United Soccer | — | — | — | RV | RV | — | 25 | 17 | — | RV | RV | 25 | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — |
| TopDrawer Soccer | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |