WINSTON SALEM, N.C. – In the game's closing moments, Jacori Hayes buried a one-timer from top of the box to give Wake Forest a 1-0 victory over Santa Clara in the 2015 season-opener for both teams.
Edson Cardona nearly put the Broncos in position for the road upset, ricocheting a shot off the post in the final minute of the first half. However, Santa Clara (0-1) was out-shot 19-4 on the night, with Hayes' goal in the 84th minute being the decider.
Wake Forest (1-0) was debuting its highly touted 2015 recruiting class, ranked among the nation's best at No. 7 by College Soccer News and No. 9 by TopDrawerSoccer.
Wake's rookie class includes freshman midfielder Jack Harrison, the 2015 Gatorade Boys Soccer National Player of the Year. Harrison scored in the Demon Deacon's 3-0 exhibition victory over Kentucky and totaled five of Wake's shots Friday night.
Hayes, a junior from Bowie, Maryland, led all players with six shots – putting four on goal.
Santa Clara's all-conference goalkeeper Kendall McIntosh made four saves. Forward Andres Jimenez - one of three SCU true-freshmen recruits from Gilory, California – came on to put a shot on target for the Broncos.
The last meeting between the schools came in the 2006 NCAA quarterfinals at Spry Stadium, a 3-1 Demon Deacon victory that sent Wake Forest to its first NCAA College Cup.
SCU will now face No. 5 North Carolina on Sunday at 7 p.m. (ET) on ESPN3. The Tar Heels got by FIU 1-0 in its official season-opener Friday night
Photo Credit: Brian Westerholt (Courtesy of Wake Forest Media Relations)