Nov. 22, 2005
NORFOLK, VA--#23 Wake Forest jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held on to defeat the 9th ranked Old Dominion Soccer Monarchs 2-1 to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Demon Deacons improved to 13-7-2 on the year, and will travel to Berkeley to take on the California Golden Bears this weekend. ODU finished their season with a 15-4-2 record. Junior forward Edson Elcock (Brooklyn, NY) scored the lone goal for the Monarchs.
Both teams battled windy conditions throughout the contest, and played to a scoreless tie after one half. ODU's best chance to score came in the 23rd minute of play when Elcock took a shot off a breakaway that Wake Forest keeper Brian Edwards dove to stop. The Monarchs were in control the entire first half, taking twelve shots to Wake Forest's two.
The stalemate was broken in the 47th minute of play when Wells Thompson took advantage of a ball that caromed off a fallen Monarch defender and finished from inside the eighteen. Wake Forest would add an insurance goal in the 82nd minute when Hermann Trophy finalist Justin Moose collected a low cross from Julian Valentin off a corner kick play, and netted it from around the six to give the Deacons a 2-0 lead.
ODU's lone goal in the 83rd minute was scored by Elcock who took a feed from sophomore defender David Horst and sent a shot from just inside the box that got past a diving Edwards. Elcock's goal was his sixth on the year, which is his career-high at Old Dominion. Several Monarch offensive charges were thwarted in the closing moments by the Demon Deacons to preserve the victory.
Elcock would take eight shots on the night, including several quality chances that were stopped by diving saves. On the evening, ODU out shot the Deacons 25-8 and held a 5-3 advantage in corner kicks. Edwards stopped nine shots in goal for Wake Forest. Senior goalkeeper John Connelly (Rockville, MD) made two saves in his final collegiate match.
"We have no regrets about tonight, and anytime we walk off the field we have no regrets" said head coach Alan Dawson. "I was bitterly disappointed in our CAA title loss, but our boys battled hard tonight and gave it all they had, and we had a great season."
Line ScoreWFU0-2=2ODU0-1=1
47:06WFUWells Thompson, unassisted82:04WFUJustin Moose, from Julian Valentin83:48ODUEdson Elcock, from David Horst
Shots: WFU (8), ODU (25)Corners: WFU (3), ODU (5)Saves: WFU-Brian Edwards (9); ODU-John Connelly (2)Cautions- ODU #12