Hurricanes soccer took to the field brimming with confidence on Sunday afternoon in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, but were decisively defeated by Wake Forest, 2-0.
Only three days prior, Miami (4-6-2, 1-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) recorded its biggest win of the season, defeating No. 24 Virginia Tech at home, 3-1.
Lacking the support and energy of the Miami faithful, the ‘Canes did not have the offensive spark needed to pressure the stalwart Wake Forest (9-3-2, 3-3 ACC) defense.
From start to finish, the Demon Deacons’ relentless offensive attack pounded the Hurricanes. Wake Forest recorded 11 shots in the first half, breaking through in the 32nd minute when junior Olivia Stonewall found the back of the net.
In the second half, Wake Forest applied even more pressure, tallying another 17 shots and scoring once more in the 72nd minute as freshman Alex Wood doubled the lead to two.
The Hurricanes were unable to find any offensive tempo, failing to record a single shot during the entire game. They had one corner in the second half but were unable to capitalize on the chance.
Senior goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais recorded four saves on six shots, as she continues to lead the ACC in saves this season.
“We have to learn and move forward,” Miami head coach Sarah Barnes said. “I didn’t think our performance was up to our standard. Wake Forest is a good team and took advantage of our errors. Every team we play in the conference is going to throw a different challenge and we have to learn, grow, adapt and move forward.”
The ‘Canes will look to put this loss behind them as they continue their road trip through North Carolina. They face NC State at the Dail Soccer/Track Complex at 7 p.m. on Saturday.