NCAA Division I Men's Soccer: Wake Forest v. Davidson (August 11th)
Pre-season Exhibition Match between Wake Forest University and Davidson College on August 11, 2024 at Alumni Stadium.
Last night, Wake Forest University played their opening exhibition match against Davidson College for the second season in a row. Having tied 2-2 almost exactly one year ago, this year’s friendly ended up having a few characteristics of a regular season game as both teams battled to a 1-1 draw.
Here were the starting elevens that took the field in Davidson, North Carolina…
Wake Forest University
This first game mainly served as an opportunity for the incoming freshman to get acclimated to the college level and incorporate themselves with some of the more senior players. The line up and substitutions reflected that as well.
There were many highly anticipated appearances to be made on the Wake Forest side of the ball between all of the new additions, but the first on the list was the long-awaited return of midfield veteran Ryan Fessler. I asked Fessler how it felt to take the field, and he told me, “It was an amazing feeling being back out there with my guys and finally putting on the Wake Forest jersey again after being out for over a year. It was nice to get some of the rust off in this first match and now we’re focused on another good week of preparation leading up to the start of the season.”
Throughout his recovery, he stuck right by his team. When I saw them over the spring season, he was always focused on the game and supporting his teammates, so you can imagine it was a special evening for him.
Here’s a look at some of his first touches as he continues to make progress…
With all the midfield departures in the offseason, there are a lot of question marks in that department. It’s a highly impactful unit for how the overall team operates, so who will ultimately be the first-choice group of three?
Over the course of the match, we were able to see several midfield personnel combinations. One of the guys who featured with Fessler in the beginning of the match was newcomer Dylan Borso. If you didn’t know it was his first match, you might not have realized it because he played with confidence and communicated very well. Like any of the freshmen, it’ll take some time to really get in the flow of how the Wake Forest midfield move, possess and create around the field, but it was a good starting point for the former Chicago Fire II midfielder. In the last two MLS NEXT Pro seasons, Borso made 10 appearances. Also, if that name sounds familiar within the ACC, it’s because it is. His older brother Wyatt plays for the University of Notre Dame.
In the second half, another 18 year old freshman midfielder made his debut in black and gold. Joel Torbic arrived to Winston-Salem from the Barça Residency Academy and with the starting 6 position still up for grabs, he could potentially be the man for the job with Jose Perez in contention as well.
If there’s one certainty in the midfield, it has to be Cooper Flax, right?
Possession and control are important, but you can’t win games if you don’t score, so the midfield also needs to serve as playmaking catalysts for the attack. His influence and style were on display again and the team looks different when he’s in the game. I mentioned the flowing movement of the midfield, so cohesion is key, and he connects a lot of the Demon Deacon dots in that regard, but he’s also always searching for ways to break through the lines and create chances for his teammates.
In the early stages of the game, there was a lot of lateral possession, so during that time, they didn’t have many opportunities to test their opponent, and the only chances seemed to come from Vlad Walent getting the ball into the box from the wide areas. Throughout the evening, the Davidson backline managed quite comfortably as they were able to outnumber any attacking advancement that the Deacs would attempt, often forcing them backward.
With a front three that have true wingers, the center forward is always at risk of being too isolated and that 4-3-3 ends up resembling a 4-5-1 if the wingers are mostly found on the touchline. It’s especially difficult against three center backs like Davidson had. The wingers were often stuck in a 1-v-2 disadvantage with the opposition wing back and nearest center back in support. The center forward had a man-marking center back on him at all times with one or two others in coverage, so it was relatively easy to defend against. The midfielders will have to improve their attacking involvement, and Borso and Fessler certainly had their moments, but overall, it felt like a conservative approach on the night.
The Wake Forest equalizing goal came from a Cooper Flax set piece where he lofted it up for Julian Kennedy to head back across goal for Travis Smith Jr. to nod home.
Wake Forest’s composure has always been admirable, but as they progress towards the 2024 season and head into their last exhibition match this weekend, maybe they’ll work on their urgency and test themselves on how they can press the issue and create more dangerous chances.
Everybody in that locker room has talent, but I’ll be interested in seeing who emerges as the attacking leaders. As some other quick notes…
Baba Niang, Basit Umar and Sidney Paris didn’t suit up, so it’s to be expected that Niang will add a spark to the offense.
Ryan Belal has some weight to throw around up front as a newly added center forward from the FC Cincinnati organization as well.
Canadian fans should highlight the name Amoni Thomas. The right back from Edmonton had a strong showing in the second half of the match. He played with the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy leading up to choosing Wake Forest.
The objectives of this game were successful as far as I’m concerned and it was great to get a glimpse of their new players.
Davidson College
After the first half hour, the Wildcats found themselves up 1-0 after Ayman Maadir sent freshman striker Tobe Ibe off to the races with a ball over the top of the Wake Forest defense. It was an ECNL connection as Maadir came up through Charlotte Soccer Academy (CSA) and Ibe was most recently from a Richmond United team that won the 2023 ENCL U17 National Championship. With a lot of focus placed on MLS NEXT Academy products nowadays, the ECNL is still producing talented players year after year.
While briefly speaking with Ayman Maadir and captain Alonzo Clarke before the game, the Wildcats appear to be in high spirits leading up to their 2024 campaign. Mike Babst has a hard-working, well-organized and disciplined group, and after a 10-5-1 record from a year ago, they have belief.
For much of the game, they were tough to break down, and often times, whenever Wake Forest looked forward, there were white jerseys in the way. I thought the Wildcats did a really good job of denying them any clear chances, and the Wake Forest attackers found themselves in a numbers disadvantage in most instances.
Since it was a preseason game, the substitution rules obviously didn’t apply, so Babst was able to make wholesale changes in an effort to test the depth and get a closer look at some of the newcomers in his system. It was a compact 5-3-2 formation that stood firm in defense and they mainly worked on the counterattack and set pieces on the offensive side of things, while also having a few good spells of possession in the attacking half.
As you can imagine, the stand outs on the night were across the backline with former All-Conference Second Team and All-Rookie Team selection Ayman Maadir playing alongside senior captain Eamon Moylan. Rounding out the group of three center backs was freshman Brady McGlone, who was a two-time ECNL All-American, along with Hampton Hughes in rotation.
But the notable names don’t stop there because the roster includes quite a few key figures. Denis Krioutchenov is an obvious one as the leading scorer of the team ever since joining Davidson. The Israeli born Wisconsin raised forward was most recently named to the All-Conference First Team after contributing his second consecutive 20 point season with an identical 9 goals and 2 assists in each. Strike partner Vincent Bennage provides a different type of profile for the attack which creates a good balance. He had a breakout season in 2023, scoring 7 goals and adding 5 assists on his way to an All-Conference Second Team selection. The captain is now in his senior season.
Alonzo Clarke was an active member of the midfield, imposing his influence in all phases of the match. Lyman Ott, Noah Louzan and the midfield rotation as a whole performed well and the work rate was evident. Jack Brown also had a really good start to his junior year at the right wing back position.
I was impressed with this group, so it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll perform in their conference games when they can open up their play a little bit more. In 2023, they only allowed 1.00 GPG and the early signs for the 2024 season show that they’ll be able to bring the defense. Despite the tight conference, look for this team to contend for the Atlantic 10 title.