# 2020 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team

The 2020 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 74th season of the university fielding a program. It was the program's sixth season with Bobby Muuss as head coach. The Demon Deacons played their home matches at Spry Stadium.
The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.
The Demon Deacons finished the fall season 5–1–0 and 7–2–0 in ACC play to finish in first place in the South Division. In the ACC Tournament they lost to Virginia in the Quarterfinals. They finished the spring season 4–0–2 and 3–0–2 in ACC play, to finish in third place in the Atlantic Division. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the fifth seed in the tournament, they defeated Coastal Carolina in the Second Round and Kentucky in the Third Round before losing to North Carolina in the Quarterfinals to end their season.

## Background

The 2019 Wake Forest men's soccer team finished the season with a 16–5–2 overall record and a 6–2–0 ACC record. The Demon Deacons were seeded third–overall in the 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, where they defeated Virginia Tech in the Quarterfinals, but lost to eventual champions Virginia in the Semifinals. The Demon Deacons earned an at-large bid into the 2019 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. As the fourth–overall seed in the tournament, Wake Forest defeated Maryland, Michigan, and UC Santa Barbara before being defeated by eventual runners-up Virginia in the Semifinals.
At the end of the season, two Demon Deacons men's soccer players were selected in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft: Alistair Johnston and Joey DeZart.

## Player movement
### Players leaving

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Andreu Cases Mundet | 1 | GK | 6'0" | 165 | Senior | Barcelona, Spain | Graduated |
| Justyn Thomas | 6 | DF | 6'0" | 175 | Junior | Keswick, Ontario | |
| Alistair Johnson | 8 | MF | 5'11" | 170 | Senior | Aurora, Ontario | Declared for 2020 MLS SuperDraft; drafted 11th overall by Nashville |
| Tater Rennhack | 9 | FW | 5'11" | 165 | Senior | Westlake, TX | Graduated |
| Bruno Lapa | 10 | MF | 5'9" | 155 | Senior | Curitiba, Brazil | Graduated |
| Joey DeZart | 14 | MF | 6'1" | 195 | Senior | Jackson, NJ | Declared for 2020 MLS SuperDraft; drafted 31st overall by Orlando |
| Eddie Folds | 19 | DF | 5'10" | 150 | Senior | Columbus, OH | Graduated |

### Players arriving

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club | TDS Rating |
| Prince Amponsah DF | USA | Bronx, New York | NYCFC (Academy) | |
| Cristian Escribano DF | USA | Frisco, TX | FC Dallas (Academy) | |
| Jahlane Forbes DF | USA | Clermont, FL | Orlando City SC (Academy) | |
| Hosei Kijima DF | JPN | Yokohama, Japan | IMG Academy | |
| Chase Oliver MF | USA | Kennesaw, GA | Atlanta United (Academy) | |
| Thomas Raimbault FW | CAN | Vancouver, BC | Vancouver Whitecaps (Academy) | N/A |
| Oscar Sears MF | SWE | Stockholm, Sweden | Danderyds Gymnasium | |
| Colin Thomas MF | USA | Canton, GA | United Futbol Academy | |
| Garrison Tubbs DF | USA | Brunswick, GA | Atlanta United (Academy) | |

## Squad
### Roster

Updated:November 4, 2020
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 | Andrew Pannenberg |
| 2 | DF | USA | Koby Carr |
| 3 | FW | USA | Kyle Holcomb |
| 4 | DF | USA | Holland Rula |
| 5 | DF | TRI | Michael DeShields |
| 7 | FW | USA | Aristotle Zarris |
| 10 | MF | SWE | Oscar Sears |
| 11 | MF | JAM | Justin McMaster |
| 12 | MF | USA | Takuma Suzuki |
| 13 | FW | USA | David Wrona |
| 14 | DF | USA | Jahlane Forbes |
| 15 | MF | USA | Isaiah Parente |
| 16 | DF | JPN | Hosei Kijima |
| 17 | MF | USA | Omar Hernandez |
| 19 | DF | USA | Cristian Escribano |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | USA | Kyle McCurley |
| 21 | MF | USA | Machop Chol |
| 22 | FW | NZL | Calvin Harris |
| 23 | DF | USA | Nico Benalcazar |
| 24 | MF | USA | Jake Swallen |
| 25 | MF | PHI | William Valtos |
| 26 | MF | USA | Colin Thomas |
| 27 | DF | USA | Prince Amponsah |
| 28 | DF | USA | Tyrrell Moore |
| 30 | GK | USA | Dominic Peters |
| 31 | GK | USA | Cole McNally |
| 32 | DF | USA | Garrison Tubbs |
| 33 | DF | USA | Sebastian Scrivner |
| 34 | MF | USA | Chase Oliver |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Athletic Director | Ron Wellman |
| Head coach | Bobby Muuss |
| Associate head coach | Steve Armas |
| Assistant Coach | Dane Brenner |
| Assistant Coach | Jonathan Lagos |
| Assistant Athletic Trainer | Michael White |
| Academic Counselor | Brooke Taylor |
| Sports Performance | David Bass |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| September 13, 2020* 7:00 p.m. | | Pittsburgh | W 3–2 | – | Spry Stadium Winston–Salem, NC |
| Fall Regular season ||||||
| September 25, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 1 | at Louisville | W 3–1 | 1–0–0 | Lynn Stadium (112) Louisville, KY |
| October 3, 2020 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 1 | NC State | W 4–1 | 2–0–0 (1–0–0) | Spry Stadium Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 10, 2020* 7:30 p.m., ACCN | No. 1 | UAB | W 2–0 | 3–0–0 (1–0–0) | Spry Stadium (748) Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 13, 2020 7:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 1 | at Clemson | L 1–2 | 3–1–0 (1–1–0) | Riggs Field (1,000) Clemson, SC |
| October 18, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 1 | No. 3 North Carolina | W 1–0 $^{OT}$ | 4–1–0 (2–1–0) | Spry Stadium Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 23, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 2 | at Duke | W 2–1 | 5–1–0 (3–1–0) | Koskinen Stadium Durham, NC |
| October 30, 2020 5:00 p.m., RSN | No. 2 | No. 3 Clemson | W 2–0 | 6–1–0 (4–1–0) | Spry Stadium Winston–Salem, NC |
| November 7, 2020 7:00 p.m., RSN | No. 2 | at NC State | W 2–0 | 7–1–0 (5–1–0) | Dail Soccer Field (77) Raleigh, NC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 15, 2020 4:00 p.m., ACCN | (S1) No. 2 | (N4) Virginia Quarterfinals | L 0–2 | 7–2–0 | Spry Stadium (100) Winston–Salem, NC |
| Spring Regular season ||||||
| March 1, 2021* 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Davidson | W 1–0 | 8–2–0 | Spry Stadium (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| March 6, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 6 | Boston College | W 3–2 | 9–2–0 (6–1–0) | Spry Stadium (0) Winston–Salem, NC |
| March 13, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | NC State | T 0–0 $^{2OT}$ | 9–2–1 (6–1–1) | Spry Stadium (350) Winston–Salem, NC |
| March 20, 2021 7:00 p.m. | No. 5 | at Notre Dame | W 3–2 | 10–2–1 (7–1–1) | Alumni Stadium (241) Notre Dame, IN |
| March 27, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 6 | Louisville | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 11–2–1 (8–1–1) | Spry Stadium (450) Winston–Salem, NC |
| April 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 4 | at No. 1 Clemson | T 0–0 $^{2OT}$ | 11–2–2 (8–1–2) | Riggs Field (1,000) Clemson, SC |
| April 9, 2021 7:00 p.m. | No. 4 | at Syracuse | Canceled | | SU Soccer Stadium Syracuse, NY |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| May 2, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN3 | (5) No. 4 | No. 25 Coastal Carolina Second Round | W 3–2 | 12–2–2 | Spry Stadium (509) Winston–Salem, NC |
| May 6, 2021 9:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream | (5) No. 4 | vs. No. 24 Kentucky Third Round | W 2–1 | 13–2–2 | WakeMed Soccer Park (156) Cary, NC |
| May 10, 2021 5:00 p.m., NCAA Livestream | (5) No. 4 | vs. No. 16 North Carolina Quarterfinals | L 1–2 | 13–3–2 | WakeMed Soccer Park (189) Cary, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Calvin Harris | ACC Co-offensive Player of the Week | September 28, 2020 |
| Kyle Holcomb | ACC Co-offensive Player of the Week | October 5, 2020 |
| Omar Hernandez | ACC Co-offensive Player of the Week | October 26, 2020 |
| Nico Benalcazar | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | November 2, 2020 |
| Andrew Pannenberg | ACC Defensive Player of the Week | November 9, 2020 |
| Calvin Harris | All ACC First-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Isaiah Parente | All ACC First-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Nico Benalcazar | All ACC Second-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Machop Chol | All ACC Second-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Kyle Holcomb | All ACC Third-Team | April 14, 2021 |
| Garrison Tubbs | All ACC Rookie Team | April 14, 2021 |

## 2021 MLS Super Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Calvin Harris | FC Cincinnati | 1 | 2 | FW |
| Michael DeShields | D.C. United | 1 | 5 | DF |
| Justin McMaster | Minnesota United | 1 | 17 | FW |
| Andrew Pannenberg | Orlando City | 2 | 49 | GK |
Source:

## Rankings
### Fall 2020

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. :
| Poll | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Final |
| United Soccer | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |

### Spring 2021

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Final |
| United Soccer | None Released | None Released | None Released | None Released | 6 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 4 (1) | 4 | 5 | 4 (2) | None Released | None Released | 6 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |