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 Bronx, New York NYCFC (Academy) Frisco, TX FC Dallas (Academy) Clermont, FL Orlando City SC (Academy) Yokohama, Japan IMG Academy Kennesaw, GA Atlanta United (Academy) Vancouver, BC Vancouver Whitecaps (Academy) N/A Stockholm, Sweden Danderyds Gymnasium Canton, GA United Futbol Academy Brunswick, GA Atlanta United (Academy)
Squad
Roster
Updated:November 4, 2020
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
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Schedule
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!colspan=6 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=6 style=""| Fall Regular season
!colspan=6 style=""| ACC Tournament
!colspan=6 style=""| Spring Regular season
!colspan=6 style=""| NCAA Tournament
Awards and honors 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 Nico Benalcazar All ACC Second-Team Machop Chol Kyle Holcomb All ACC Third-Team Garrison Tubbs All ACC Rookie Team
2021 MLS Super Draft
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
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Rankings
Fall 2020
+ Ranking movementLegend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. Poll Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Final United Soccer 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3
Spring 2021
+ Ranking movementLegend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. PollPre Wk1 Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Final United Soccer None Released 6 4 5 6 4 (1) 4 5 4 (2) None Released 6 TopDrawer Soccer 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 5
References