Men's Soccer Hosts Wake Forest In Home Finale Tuesday at 7 p.m.

DAVIDSON, N.C. - The Davidson men's soccer team will play their home finale and close the regular season Tuesday in Alumni Stadium against Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Wake Forest. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.

“Wake Forest is very good, as always,” said head coach Matt Spear. “Their goals are another ACC crown and a fifth straight run to the NCAA College Cup. I am certain that they will be prepared and focused to give their maximum effort, to further accelerate their post-season quest.”

“We will need our student body and fans to be our '12th Man,' and we hope this will be our season high in terms of fan attendance and an enthusiastic environment.”

Fans unable to attend can follow the action via live video and live stats.

Scouting the Wildcats: Davidson climbed back above .500 Saturday night, snapping out of an offensive funk with a big 5-1 win over Presbyterian. The 'Cats are unbeaten in five of their last six games. Elon remains the only opposing team to earn a win at Alumni Stadium this season as the 'Cats have gone unbeaten in eight of nine home contests (4-1-4). Davidson defeated ACC foe Virginia Tech, 1-0 on Sept. 21 and defeated NC State, 1-0, in a preseason exhibition match.

“We are coming off two matches in which we generated a lot of shots, and tons of scoring opportunities, so we seek to push further in this offensive thrust,” said Spear. “At the same time we must be tough on the defensive side as Wake has talent in all positions.”

Junior Mark Millard and senior Alex Caskey are tied for the team lead in scoring. Millard scored his team-best sixth goal of the season against PC and has two assists on the year for 14 points. Caskey also has 14 points and earned his team-leading fourth assist against PC. He has five goals on the year. Senior Yannick Pilgrim, after missing seven games with injury, scored the game-winner against PC for his first goal since the 6-1 season opening win over Marist.

The Wildcats have gotten some new production the past two games. Freshman Alex Givens and junior transfer Thomas Zimmerman scored the first two goals of their careers in the past two games, accounting for four of the six goals scored.

Scouting the Demon Deacons: Wake Forest will bring one of the younger teams in college soccer, consisting of 19 underclassmen. They are coming off a conference win over No. 18 Boston College, improving their record to 7-7-2, and will be the third seed in the ACC Tournament. They have reached the College Cup the past four seasons, winning the national championship in 2007.

They boast some of college soccer's most talented players. Three of their freshmen are mentioned in Top Drawer Soccer's top 100 College Freshmen. Tyler Emerson, Chris Duvall, and Luca Gimenez are ranked 17th, 26th, and 83rd, respectively. Two of the upperclassmen – Anthony Arena and Andy Lubahn –are also listed in the list of top 100 upperclassmen. Luca Gimenez so far has posted four goals and two assists, while teammate Andy Lubahn leads with seven goals.

In their five games against SoCon teams, the Deacons have won four, losing only to College of Charleston, 1-0. In their most recent game, playing SoCon opponent Elon, the Demon Deacons went into overtime before pulling off a 2-1 victory with a crucial header from junior defender Kyle Adams.

The Series: Davidson enters with a 4-23-1 record against Wake Forest, with their last win coming in 1997- a 1-0 victory. Wake Forest, ranked second in the nation at the time, took last year's meeting on a rainy night in Winston-Salem, 4-1.

Up Next: Davidson will play in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament, heading either to Boone, N.C. to play Appalachian State at 3 p.m. or Mt. Pleasant, S.C. to play CofC at 7 p.m. The Wildcats are locked into the No. 6 seed, but their first-round opponent will be determined by the final league match Tuesday night between Furman and Wofford. If Furman wins, Davidson will play CofC, but if Wofford wins or ties, Davidson will play ASU.

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