The Eagles fell 1-0 to No.10 Wake Forest in the pouring rain on Friday night at Newton Soccer Field. Despite putting together the most complete performance yet against BC’s preferred rivalry team, the Eagles managed only one shot on net that came in the 68th minute. Brennan Klein made a season high five saves, but Cooper Flax scored in the 10th minute to seal the win for the Demon Deacons. BC has yet to win an ACC game this season, going 0-1-2.
With the Eagles on their heels to start the game, it was only a matter of time before Wake capitalized. Sidney Paris received a pass on the right side, with the Demon Deacons stretching the field. Tapping it forward, Paris found Jahlane Forbes up the line, feeding him the ball. Forbes managed to avoid the sliding tackle of Gundelach, taking the ball deep into the Eagles defensive third before laying off a pass to the waiting Flax. Two Wake players let the ball pass them, before Flax, unmarked at the top of the box, neatly one-timed the ball inside the near post, taking advantage of the rain by keeping the ball low. Klein dove for it, but couldn’t quite reach it, giving Wake the 1-0 lead in the 10th minute of the match.
It had almost been near disaster for the Eagles five minutes into the game though. Wake earned an early corner and elected to send the ball in deep, hoping the rain would help in causing chaos. The corner found Roald Mitchell on the far post. Mitchell’s header was sent towards the top of the goal and looked certain to go in—except a sprawling Klein managed to react with just enough speed to palm the ball up into the crossbar and back out into the field of play.
That wasn’t the only save of Klein’s that kept the Eagles in the game. Klein’s best pair of saves came in the 51st minute, when Leo Guarino slipped past CJ Williams inside the box and fired point blank at the goal from just outside the six-yard box. Sliding, Klein made the save but the rebound bounced back to Guarino and Klein had his back to the shooter. Guarino fired off another one, and Klein, looking over his shoulder, managed to get his arm on the ball and scoop up the return shot. Playing perhaps his best match of the season, the goalkeeper nearly had an assist in the second half as well, driving past a Wake forward to send a pinpoint accurate ball across the field to the far post, where Williams just missed heading the ball down and in.
However, in the Eagles case, the best defense is a good offense, and BC’s offense was nowhere to be found. Augustine Boadi managed the Eagles only shot on net in the 68th minute, darting past a Wake defender to create space for himself. Unfortunately, his shot didn’t have enough power in it to challenge Demon Deacon goalkeeper Trace Alphin. The Eagles ended the night with nine total shots, but nothing that felt threatening. The attack was stale, coming mostly from the left side, with Jonathan Murphy and Xavier O’Neil attempting to link up in a passing sequence that Wake managed to disrupt frequently.
Deploying a press in the second half, the Eagles looked livelier, turning the pressure that Wake had been deploying on them around and forcing Wake to chase the game. Jack Burkhardt, playing left back this game, did well to organize his side, while Aidan Farwell once again created magic in the midfield, pulling the Eagles forward by sheer force of will and technical talent at times. Alfie Hughes returned to the lineup and his dribbling skills made a difference in bypassing Wake’s lines. Despite an abundance of midfielders on the field for the Eagles, the middle of the field often remained suspiciously empty.
Despite rainy conditions, the Eagles opted to take many of their corners short, as has been their custom throughout this season. The approach hasn’t led to a goal yet and, against Wake, often prevented the Eagles from even testing the Demon Deacons keeper. With time winding down and BC applying significant pressure, Wake was able to regain possession in key moments by reading the Eagles’ short corners.
Regardless, Wake celebrated the 1-0 win over the Eagles like they had just won a championship game—a testament perhaps to how difficult the Eagles were to play even if the scoreboard didn’t reflect that reality.
The Eagles (2-4-3) take on Suffolk (7-2-1) at 5:30 pm on Monday, October 2nd at Newton Soccer Field in a non-ACC match up.
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