Two of Indiana’s last three seasons have ended in heartbreak in North Carolina.
They’re back in the Tar Heel State Sunday afternoon with a chance to extend their 2023 NCAA Tournament run.
It’s a matchup between two men’s soccer programs that have attended every NCAA Tournament together since 2010.
Indiana (13-4-4, 4-2-2 B1G) will visit No. 10 national seed Wake Forest in the second round of the tournament on Sunday (Nov. 19). The match will stream live on the ESPN+ digital platform. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. ET.
Indiana comes into the match having won six straight and 10 of its last 11 matches. The Hoosiers took care of Lipscomb 2-1 in the opening round on Thursday with a complete performance.
Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons have not played since Nov. 5 – a 1-0 loss to North Carolina in the ACC Tournament Quarterfinals and just their second defeat of the season. Wake Forest was the ACC Atlantic Division Champion and is one of six teams representing the conference as a national seed in the NCAA Tournament. Wake Forest owns an 11-2-5 record, was 4-1-3 in ACC regular season play and has an 8-1-3 mark in home matches.
The Demon Deacons are led by ninth-year head coach Bobby Muuss, who owns a 140-34-17 record during his time in Winston-Salem and a 214-90-42 career mark in 17 seasons as a head coach.
Wake Forest is making its 14th consecutive appearance in the tournament. The Demon Deacons fell to Ohio State 3-0 in the first round of the 2022 tournament.
The Demon Deacons average two goals per game (36 total), allow 0.78 (14 total) per game and have posted seven shutouts but none since October 14. Junior forward Roald Mitchell leads Wake Forest in scoring with nine goals on the year and 21 points. Senior midfielder Jahlane Forbes has the team’s second-highest points total, with 15, while leading the Deacs with seven assists.
Sunday’s match is the sixth between Indiana and Wake Forest, the second in the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2018.
IU has fallen in the last three matches against the Demon Deacons, all three decided by one goal. In the most recent meeting, the teams opened their 2018 seasons against each other. The highly competitive match was decided by a 107th-minute golden goal. The Hoosiers would end the season with a 20-3-1 record and an appearance in the NCAA College Cup.
Three years prior, the programs met in the 2015 NCAA Tournament Third Round. Indiana saw three shots hit the post, and an 88th-minute goal was enough for No. 1-seeded Wake Forest to get past the No. 16 Hoosiers.
Both programs are regulars in the tournament. The Demon Deacons have not missed out on postseason play since 2010, while the Hoosiers have the nation’s longest active streak – 37 straight seasons.
To see the full NCAA Tournament bracket, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- Find us on Facebook: thedailyhoosier
- You can follow us on Twitter: @daily_hoosier
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
