BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's soccer (2-3-1) fought valiantly despite a 3-0 setback to No. 4 Wake Forest (5-1) on Tuesday evening at Spry Stadium.
"We were pleased with our approach to the start of the game," head coach
Jason O'Keefe said after the contest. "We went into half even or ahead for the seventh-straight game, and that's a goal of ours in every match.
We had some costly turnovers to start the second half, which put us under, and a team like WF will punish you.We will learn from this game and get better for Longwood Saturday night at 7pm."
The App defense bent but didn't break as it played to a 0-0 tie going into halftime with the nation's fourth-ranked team. However, a 6 1/2 minute window proved to be the difference as the hosts scored two of their goals in that time frame during the opening minutes of the second half to take a commanding lead.
Jake Chasteen was very active in the contest where he tied a season high with six stops on the evening. The junior has tallied at least four saves in five of six games this season.
WF got on the board in the 46th minute when Ema Twumasi score one of his two goals, while the second score came five minutes later. The Demon Deacons tacked on the third goal at 74' by Bruno Lapa to extend the lead to three.
Six of the starting 11 for the Mountaineers that started were freshmen, while
Tyquann Perinchief started in his first-career contest for App.
Appalachian will look to get back on track this Saturday when it returns home to face Longwood at 7 p.m.