Oct. 6, 2008

>Wake Forest-UMass Game Notes

- WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The top-ranked Wake Forest men's soccer team plays its second consecutive game against a team that appeared in the 2007 College Cup on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. as it hosts Massachusetts. The game will be aired live on the web by ACC Select.

The Deacons are coming off an impressive 8-2 victory over Virginia Tech. The win moved Wake Forest to 10-0 overall and 3-0 in ACC play for only the second time in program history. The 2002 team also won its first three games in conference play.

Ike Opara scored two first half goals and Cody Arnoux recorded a hat trick in less than 10 minutes late in the second half to lead the Deacons to victory. Austin da Luz, Corben Bone and Marcus Tracy also scored goals for Wake Forest.

Tracy enters the game ranked in the top three in four offensive categories in the ACC. The senior from Newtown, Conn., ranks first in points (22) and is tied for first in game-winning goals (3). Tracy is tied for second in goals with eight and is third in assists with six.

Bone, Jamie Franks and Tracy are ranked first, second and third respectively in assists in the ACC to this point in the season. Bone has a league-leading eight helpers on the season, while Franks has seven assists. Tracy has added six assists for the Deacons. Not far behind those three is da Luz, who is tied for fifth in the conference with four assists on the year.

Wake Forest will look to extend a pair of impressive unbeaten streaks against the Minutemen. The Deacons are unbeaten in their last 35 non-conference games and are also unbeaten in their last 27 home contests. The home unbeaten streak is tied for the eighth-longest in NCAA history. A win or a tie on Tuesday would tie Wake for the seventh-longest home unbeaten streak in NCAA history.

UMass enters Tuesday's game with a 2-4-2 record. The Minutemen are coming off a 0-0 tie with Vermont in their last game. UMass has recorded wins over Boston University and Siena this season.

The Minutemen are led by a trio of players who have four points each. Prince Ofosu has two goals on the season, while Ben Arikian and Mike DeSantis each have a goal and two assists on the year.

Zack Simmons is the goalkeeper for UMass. Simmons has played in net every minute of the season for the Minutemen, allowing nine goals for a goals against average of 1.04. He has 38 saves on the season.

Wake Forest and UMass will be meeting for the first time on Tuesday night.

Live stats, along with a full recap from Tuesday's game, will be available at wakeforestsports.com.

-WakeForestSports.com-