# 2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team

The 2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 75th season of the university fielding a program. It was the program's seventh season with Bobby Muuss as head coach. The Demon Deacons played their home matches at Spry Stadium.
The Demon Deacons finished the season 13–7–1 overall and 4–3–1 in ACC play to finish in third place in the Atlantic Division. As the sixth overall seed in the ACC Tournament they defeated Virginia in the first round before losing to Duke in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They were an unseeded team and defeated Mercer in the first round and thirteenth seed FIU in the second round before losing to fourth seed Notre Dame to end their season.

## Background

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.
Four Demon Deacons men's soccer players were selected in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft: Calvin Harris, Michael DeShields, Justin McMaster and Andrew Pannenberg.

## Player movement
### Players leaving

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Andrew Pannenberg | 0 | GK | 6'3" | 195 | Junior | Charlotte, NC | Graduated; Drafted 49th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando City |
| Koby Carr | 2 | DF | 5'9" | 150 | Junior | San Antonio, TX | Transferred to Charlotte |
| Michael DeShields | 5 | DF | 6'1" | 180 | Senior | Baltimore, MD | Graduated; Drafted 5th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by D.C. United |
| Aristotle Zarris | 7 | MF | 5'10" | 160 | Junior | Sarasota, FL | — |
| Justin McMaster | 11 | MF | 5'9" | 165 | Senior | Kingston, Jamaica | Graduated; Drafted 17th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by Minnesota United |
| Isaiah Parente | 15 | MF | 5'9" | 150 | Junior | Medina, OH | Signed a Homegrown contract with the Columbus Crew |
| Kyle McCurley | 20 | MF | 5'10" | 145 | Senior | Lake Zurich, IL | Graduated |
| Machop Chol | 21 | MF | 6'2" | 175 | Senior | Tucker, GA | Graduated; Signed a Homegrown contract with Atlanta United |
| Calvin Harris | 22 | FW | 6'0" | 160 | Sophomore | Middlesborugh, England | Drafted 2nd overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by FC Cincinnati |
| William Valtos | 25 | MF | 5'8" | 145 | Sophomore | Manila, Philippines | — |
| Tyrrell Moore | 28 | DF | 5'6" | 150 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduated |
| Dominic Peters | 30 | GK | 6'3" | 180 | Junior | Santa Clara, CA | Graduated |

### Players arriving

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club |
| Robert Alphin GK | USA | Raleigh, NC | North Carolina FC Youth |
| Boima Cummins DF | USA | Port Huron, MI | New York Red Bulls |
| Mwinso Denkabe FW | USA | Los Altos, CA | Silicon Valley Soccer Association |
| Ryan Fessler MF | USA | Charlotte, NC | Sporting Kansas City (Academy) |
| Eligio Guarino MF | USA | East Rockaway, NY | NYCFC |
| Julian Kennedy FW | USA | Orlando, FL | Orlando City (Academy) |
| Nicolas Mancilla MF | CHI | Osorno, Chile | Club Universidad de Chile |
| Roald Mitchell MF | USA | Montclair, NJ | PDA |
| Babacar Niang FW | SEN | Dakar, Senegal | The Pennington School |
| Jake Nicoll GK | USA | Short Hills, NJ | STA |
| Tareq Shihab MF | ENG | Brighton, England | Brighton & Hove Albion |

## Squad
### Roster

    As of February 3, 2022
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | USA | Trace Alphin |
| 2 | DF | USA | Bo Cummins |
| 3 | FW | USA | Kyle Holcomb |
| 4 | DF | USA | Alec Kenison |
| 5 | DF | USA | Samuel Jones |
| 8 | FW | SEN | Babacar Niang |
| 9 | MF | USA | Roald Mitchell |
| 10 | MF | SWE | Oscar Sears |
| 11 | MF | USA | Leo Guarino |
| 12 | MF | USA | Takuma Suzuki |
| 13 | FW | USA | David Wrona |
| 14 | DF | USA | Jahlane Forbes |
| 15 | FW | USA | Mwinso Denkabe |
| 16 | DF | JPN | Hosei Kijima |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 17 | MF | USA | Omar Hernandez |
| 18 | MF | USA | Cooper Flax |
| 19 | DF | USA | Cristian Escribano |
| 20 | MF | USA | Ryan Fessler |
| 21 | FW | USA | Julian Kennedy |
| 24 | MF | USA | Jake Swallen |
| 25 | MF | USA | Chase Oliver |
| 26 | MF | USA | Colin Thomas |
| 27 | DF | USA | Prince Amponsah |
| 28 | MF | USA | Nicolas Mancilla |
| 31 | GK | USA | Cole McNally |
| 32 | DF | USA | Garrison Tubbs |
| 33 | DF | USA | Sebastian Scrivner |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Athletic Director | John Currie |
| 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 ||||||
| August 15* 7:00 p.m. | No. 7 | at Furman | W 2–0 | – | Stone Stadium Greenville, SC |
| August 21* 7:00 p.m. | No. 7 | No. 25 Coastal Carolina | L 0–2 | – | Spry Stadium Winston–Salem, NC |
| Regular season ||||||
| August 26* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 7 | VCU | L 0–2 | 0–1–0 | Spry Stadium (1,296) Winston–Salem, NC |
| August 29* 7:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 7 | Bucknell | W 2–0 | 1–1–0 | Spry Stadium (1,089) Winston–Salem, NC |
| September 4* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 18 | Cornell | W 2–1 $^{2OT}$ | 2–1–0 | Spry Stadium (1,491) Winston–Salem, NC |
| September 10 7:30 p.m., ACCNX | No. 25 | at Louisville | L 0–3 | 2–2–0 (0–1–0) | Lynn Stadium (1,307) Louisville, KY |
| September 17 8:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 5 Pittsburgh | W 3–1 | 3–2–0 (1–1–0) | Spry Stadium (2,176) Winston–Salem, NC |
| September 20* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at George Mason | W 1–0 | 4–2–0 | George Mason Stadium (175) Fairfax, VA |
| September 24 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at NC State | T 1–1 $^{2OT}$ | 4–2–1 (1–1–1) | Dail Soccer Field (1,570) Raleigh, NC |
| September 28* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Liberty | L 0–1 $^{2OT}$ | 4–3–1 | Spry Stadium (1,287) Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 1 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Clemson | L 1–2 | 4–4–1 (1–2–1) | Spry Stadium (3,560) Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 5* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | William & Mary | W 4–0 | 5–4–1 | Spry Stadium (1,119) Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 8 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at North Carolina | W 2–1 | 6–4–1 (2–2–1) | Dorrance Field (1,283) Chapel Hill, NC |
| October 12* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | George Washington | W 3–0 | 7–4–1 | Spry Stadium (1,127) Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 16 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | No. 5 Virginia Tech | W 3–1 | 8–4–1 (3–2–1) | Spry Stadium (3,026) Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 19* 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Loyola (MD) | W 7–0 | 9–4–1 | Spry Stadium (1,021) Winston–Salem, NC |
| October 23 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Boston College | L 2–3 | 9–5–1 (3–3–1) | Newton Soccer Complex (658) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| October 29 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Syracuse | W 2–0 | 10–5–1 (4–3–1) | Spry Stadium (2,271) Winston–Salem, NC |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 3 8:00 p.m., ACCN | (6) | (11) Virginia First Round | W 3–0 | 11–5–1 | Spry Stadium (1,034) Winston–Salem, NC |
| November 7 2:00 p.m., ACCN | (6) | (11) Duke Quarterfinals | L 2–3 | 11–6–1 | Koskinen Stadium (1,062) Durham, NC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 18 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Mercer First Round | W 2–1 | 12–6–1 | Spry Stadium (855) Winston–Salem, NC |
| November 21 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | (13) No. 14 FIU Second Round | W 3–2 | 13–6–1 | FIU Soccer Stadium (1,567) Miami, FL |
| November 28 5:00 p.m., ACCNX | | (4) No. 20 Notre Dame Third Round | L 0–2 | 13–7–1 | Alumni Stadium (481) Notre Dame, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Kyle Holcomb | Preseason All-ACC Watchlist | August 18, 2021 |
| Kyle Holcomb | All-ACC First Team | November 10 |
| Nico Benalcazar | All-ACC Third Team | November 10 |
| Omar Hernandez | All-ACC Third Team | November 10 |
| Jake Swallen | All-ACC Third Team | November 10 |

## 2022 MLS Super Draft

| Player | Team | Round | Pick # | Position |
| Kyle Holcomb | Charlotte FC | 2 | 29 | FW |
| Holland Rula | FC Dallas | Compensatory | 87 | DF |
Source:

## 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 | 7 | 18 | 25 | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 17 |
| TopDrawer Soccer | 6 | 8 | 8 | — | 18 | 20 | — | 19 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |