Wildcats Drop 3-0 Decision to No. 1 Wake Forest in Front of Stadium-Record Crowd

Tuesday, October 21

Davidson, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

Davidson College Athletics

2-11-1, 1-3-0SoCon

No. 1 Wake Forest

14-0-1, 4-0-1ACC

Team	1	2	Final F
Wake Forest	2	1	3
Davidson	0	0	0

Wildcats Drop 3-0 Decision to No. 1 Wake Forest in Front of Stadium-Record Crowd

10/21/2008 9:56:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Matt Harris - Assistant SID

DAVIDSON, N.C. - A pair of first-half goals proved too much for the Davidson men's soccer team to overcome in a 3-0 loss to No. 1 Wake Forest in front of an Alumni Stadium-record crowd of 1,921 Tuesday night.

Davidson battled the defending National Champions right out of the gate, controlling a potent Wake Forest offense and creating some chances of their own to start the match. The Demon Deacons, who had come into the night averaging over 18 shots per game, was held without a scoring chance until the 14:41 mark of the first half, and without a shot on goal until the 19th minute.

But just when the momentum seemed to be swinging the way of the 'Cats, Wake Forest's leading scorer, Cody Arnoux, put away a pair of goals in the span of 36 seconds to give the Deacons what would prove to be a lead they would not relinquish. At the 24:22 mark, Arnoux fired fired a one-touch shot from the edge of the 18-yard box on the left side of the goal. The ball had just enough of a curve on it to connect with the post on the far side of the goal and bounce into the net to put Wake Forest up, 1-0.

Arnoux then connected on his 11th goal of the season 36 seconds later courtesy of a shot from just over eight yards out in front of the net to give the Deacons a two-goal advantage going into the half.

“When you play a team like Wake Forest, sometimes you start to feel comfortable, and that's when they erupt,” said Davidson head coach Matt Spear. “Wake Forest didn't get rattled, they stayed focused and seized the moment and took advantage of their chances. The first two minutes after a goal are critical, and we buckled in a crucial stage. That goal really set us back because we had not fully recovered from the first one. It's a 1-2 punch that Wake Forest, and namely National Player of the Year candidate Cody Arnoux, landed on us."

Although they were down, Davidson was never out, putting together some good chances on their offensive end just before halftime, including a give-and-go between junior Yannick Pilgrim and senior Whitey Bolan that ended when Pilgrim's final pass was just out of Bolan's reach. Then at the 28:11 mark, freshman Mark Millard fired in a shot attempt that was stopped by the Wake Forest goalkeeper.

Coming out of the break, Wake was able to record an insurance goal in the 48th minute via Zack Schilawski's shot just out of the reach of a diving Robby Goldsberry for his sixth goal of the year, putting the Deacons up, 3-0.

Despite the loss, Goldsberry stepped up to the occasion, making a career-high 10 saves, the most by a Davidson goalkeeper in two years. He faced the nation's top offense head-on, with Wake taking 26 shots on the night, and Goldsberry showing his athleticism with numerous diving stops.

“I thought Robby was tremendous,” said Spear. “He made some very difficult stops, and made play after play, and I tip my hat to him.”

Davidson has possibly its best scoring chances in the last 15 minutes of the match, taking four shots in a span of three minutes, all of which were quality attempts, including a cross into the six-yard box that was cleared away by a Wake Forest defender.

The overflow crowd of 1,921 who came out to the match broke the previous Alumni Stadium record of 1,348 set in 2005 when the Wildcats took on Charlotte in a 3-2 double-overtime Davidson victory. Alumni Stadium re-opened in its current and greatly improved existence during the 2004 season. Spear commented after the match on the impact the crowd had on his players.

“It was very impressive to see the atmosphere tonight,” he said. “Having as many fans come out not only speaks for the quality of Wake Forest's program, but for the quality of our program. It was a great chance and a real honor for our team to play in front of a record-setting crowd, and as an alumnus, I was proud of our fan base with the support they gave us.”

With the victory, the Deacons improve to 14-0-1 overall, 4-0-1 in the ACC, and extend their unbeaten streak against non-conference opponents to 38 games. Davidson drops to 2-11-1 after the defeat, and holds a 1-3-0 mark in the Southern Conference

The Wildcats will now head into a critical two-game stretch this weekend, starting when they welcome Presbyterian College to Alumni Stadium on Friday night for their last non-conference matchup of the season, with kick off scheduled for 7 p.m. Then on Sunday they return to SoCon play when they travel to Boone, N.C. to take on Appalachian State to start a stretch of three-straight conference matches to close out the regular season. Kick off between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.