Sept. 23, 2008

Wake Forest-Appalachian State Game Notes

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - After picking up an impressive road victory at UC Santa Barbara, No. 1 Wake Forest returns home to meet Appalachian State on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. (ET).

"It's going to be a very difficult turnaround for us to get ready to play a good Appalachian State team," head coach Jay Vidovich said. "Appalachian State is having a tremendous year. Their new coach has done a great job with them."

Wake Forest opened its road schedule with a convincing 6-2 win over UC Santa Barbara. The Deacons fell behind early, but scored five unanswered goals, including four in the first 24 minutes of the second half, to pull away from the Gauchos.

Corben Bone added the equalizing goal and two assists in the second half to lead the Deacons. Bone was named to Soccer America's Team of the Week and College Soccer News' National Team of the Week after his performance.

Six different Wake Forest players scored in the game, including freshmen Luke Norman and Sam Redmond, who each scored for the first time in their collegiate careers. Marcus Tracy scored his sixth goal in as many games and Sam Cronin tallied his second game-winning goal of the season. Ike Opara scored the goal that put Wake Forest on top for the first time early in the second half.

Wake Forest will be looking to improve to 7-0 on the season, which would equal the best start to a season in school history. The 2007 team also opened the season with seven consecutive victories.

Appalachian State enters the contest with a 5-1-0 record. The Mountaineers opened the season with four victories, before dropping a 2-1 decision at High Point. ASU is coming off a 1-0 win over Campbell. Sean Dreybus leads the team in goals with three, while Arie Muniz has a team-leading four assists and eight points.

Wake Forest leads the all-time series against Appalachian State 16-2-0, including a 14-1-0 edge when meeting in Winston-Salem. The two squads met last season, with Wake claiming a 5-0 victory.

Live stats and a recap of the match will be available on wakeforestsports.com.

-WakeForestSports.com-