Hayes Sends No. 1 Deacs to ACC Semis in OT
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Jacori Hayes scored his fifth goal of the season in the 95th minute of play as No. 1 Wake Forest took down ninth-seeded Louisville 2-1 in overtime at Spry Stadium in the ACC Championship Quarterfinals on Sunday afternoon.
Hayes was set up by Ricky Greensfelder and Jack Harrison on the game-winning play. Greensfelder took a pass from Harrison on the left side and the redshirt-junior sent a cross into the box that was deflected by the Louisville goalkeeper, Theo Jamilloux. The ball bounced away from Jamilloux out to Hayes and Hayes sent his shot just inside the right post to keep the Deacs alive in the tournament.
The Demon Deacons improved to 15-1-2 on the season and are unbeaten in their last 12 games. It marks the longest streak since Wake Forest posted a streak of 24-straight unbeaten contests from 2007-08 and is tied for the fifth-longest unbeaten streak in program history. Wake Forest went 12 games without a loss from Sept. 27 to Nov. 12 back in 1989.
Wake Forest's first goal of the game came just 12 minutes in when Harrison took the ball across the face of the penalty area and set himself up with a shot just to the left of center at the top of the box. His shot beat Jamilloux back to the right side just inside the post to put the Deacs up 1-0.
Louisville got the goal back in the 72nd minute when Joey Kunkel deflected home and already-deflected free kick taken by Danny Reynolds. Reynolds sent his ball toward goal and Jack Gayton got a head on the ball to flick it even closer to the goalmouth. Kunkel finished the play with a goal back to the right side to knot the game at 1-1.
Alec Ferrell made four saves in the game for the Deacs, moving his record to 12-0-2 this season. Overall, Wake Forest outshot Louisville 18-8 with a 9-5 margin in shots on target.
The Demon Deacons return to action Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. when they take on fourth-seeded Notre Dame at Spry Stadium. The Irish topped fifth-seeded Virginia 1-0 in a matchup of the last two national champions on Sunday by scoring in the closing minutes of the contest. Earlier this season, Wake Forest beat Notre Dame 2-1 at Spry Stadium on a goal in the 87th minute by Jon Bakero.
Game Notes
-The win marks the first overtime victory for Wake Forest since Ricky Greensfelder lifted the Deacs to a 1-0 win over Louisville in the regular-season finale last year in the 94th minute.
-All five goals scored by Jacori Hayes this year have been game winners. He did not have a game-winner with the Deacs prior to the 2015 season.
-Jack Harrison has now tallied a team-high eight goals this season. He is now tied for fourth in program history with Michael Gamble and Rob Burt for the most goals in a single season by a freshman.
-Wake Forest has scored a goal in the first 15 minutes of a game in each of the last three contests and four of the last five overall dating back to the Oct. 20 win over Georgia State.
-The conceded goal in the 72nd minute marked just the second time all season Wake Forest had given up the tying goal after scoring first in the contest, the other time coming Sept. 22 on the road against then-No. 6 Akron.
-Wake Forest broke the single-season attendance record Sunday with 2,189 fans in attendance. The previous-best was 29,296 in 2007, but Wake Forest has attracted 30,485 to Spry Stadium thus far this year.
-Sunday's game marked the first afternoon game of the season for Wake Forest. Each of the Deacs' regular-season games were played at 7 p.m.
Around the ACC
No. 7 Syracuse 1, No. 2 North Carolina 1 (Syracuse advances 4-3 on PKs)
No. 3 Clemson 3, No. 6 Boston College 0
No. 4 Notre Dame 1, No. 5 Virginia 0
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