The 2021 Wake Forest Demon Deacons men's soccer team represented Wake Forest University during the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. It was the 75th season of the university fielding a program. It was the program's seventh season with Bobby Muuss as head coach. The Demon Deacons played their home matches at Spry Stadium.
The Demon Deacons finished the season 13–7–1 overall and 4–3–1 in ACC play to finish in third place in the Atlantic Division. As the sixth overall seed in the ACC Tournament they defeated Virginia in the first round before losing to Duke in the quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They were an unseeded team and defeated Mercer in the first round and thirteenth seed FIU in the second round before losing to fourth seed Notre Dame to end their season.
Background
The teams' 2020 season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which curtailed the fall season and caused the NCAA Tournament to be played in spring 2021. The ACC was one of the only two conferences in men's soccer to play in the fall of 2020. The ACC also held a mini-season during the spring of 2021.
The Demon Deacons finished the fall season 5–1–0 and 7–2–0 in ACC play to finish in first place in the South Division. In the ACC Tournament they lost to Virginia in the quarterfinals. They finished the spring season 4–0–2 and 3–0–2 in ACC play, to finish in third place in the Atlantic Division. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. As the fifth seed in the tournament, they defeated Coastal Carolina in the second round and Kentucky in the third round before losing to North Carolina in the quarterfinals to end their season.
Four Demon Deacons men's soccer players were selected in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft: Calvin Harris, Michael DeShields, Justin McMaster and Andrew Pannenberg.
Player movement
Players leaving Departures Andrew Pannenberg 0 GK 6'3" 195 Junior Charlotte, NC Graduated; Drafted 49th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by Orlando City Koby Carr 2 DF 5'9" 150 Junior San Antonio, TX Transferred to Charlotte Michael DeShields 5 DF 6'1" 180 Senior Baltimore, MD Graduated; Drafted 5th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by D.C. United Aristotle Zarris 7 MF 5'10" 160 Junior Sarasota, FL — Justin McMaster 11 MF 5'9" 165 Senior Kingston, Jamaica Graduated; Drafted 17th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by Minnesota United Isaiah Parente 15 MF 5'9" 150 Junior Medina, OH Signed a Homegrown contract with the Columbus Crew Kyle McCurley 20 MF 5'10" 145 Senior Lake Zurich, IL Graduated Machop Chol 21 MF 6'2" 175 Senior Tucker, GA Graduated; Signed a Homegrown contract with Atlanta United Calvin Harris 22 FW 6'0" 160 Sophomore Middlesbrough, England Drafted 2nd overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by FC Cincinnati William Valtos 25 MF 5'8" 145 Sophomore Manila, Philippines — Tyrrell Moore 28 DF 5'6" 150 Senior Brooklyn, NY Graduated Dominic Peters 30 GK 6'3" 180 Junior Santa Clara, CA Graduated
Players arriving
Name Nat. Hometown Club TDS Rating Raleigh, NC North Carolina FC Youth Port Huron, MI New York Red Bulls Los Altos, CA Silicon Valley Soccer Association Charlotte, NC Sporting Kansas City (Academy) East Rockaway, NY NYCFC Orlando, FL Orlando City (Academy) Osorno, Chile Club Universidad de Chile Montclair, NJ PDA Dakar, Senegal The Pennington School Short Hills, NJ STA Brighton, England Brighton & Hove Albion
Squad
Roster
Team management Athletic Director John Currie Head coach Bobby Muuss Associate head coach Steve Armas Assistant Coach Dane Brenner Assistant Coach Jonathan Lagos Assistant Athletic Trainer Michael White Academic Counselor Brooke Taylor Sports Performance David Bass
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Schedule
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!colspan=6 style=""| Exhibition
!colspan=6 style=""| Regular season
!colspan=6 style=""| ACC tournament
!colspan=6 style=""| NCAA tournament
Awards and honors Kyle Holcomb Preseason All-ACC Watchlist August 18, 2021 Kyle Holcomb All-ACC First Team November 10 Nico Benalcazar All-ACC Third Team Omar Hernandez Jake Swallen
2022 MLS Super Draft
Kyle Holcomb Charlotte FC 2 29 FW Holland Rula FC Dallas Compensatory 87 DF
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Rankings
References