Air Force falls at No. 15 Wake Forest, 2-1

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Air Force came up shy of a tying goal in a Sunday evening meeting at No. 15 Wake Forest as they fell to the Demon Deacons, 2-1, at Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem. The Falcons close opening weekend at 0-2 heading into the third of a five-game road stint.

Junior forward Thaddaeus Dewing led the offensive charge with three of AF's 12 total shots. The Falcons, who were out shot 7-2 in the first half, turned up the pressure in the second half as they out shot WF 10 shots to nine. Jake Angeletti, London Aghedo and Brandon Cobb tallied two shots apiece. Both teams took four shots on frame.

The Falcons had a near score in the first half via 20-yard free kick from Remi Smith who sent a rocket low right to be narrowly saved by the WF keeper.

Wake Forest's Vlad Walent and Oscar Sears were credited with goals in the 17^th and 43^rd minutes to give the Demon Deacons a two-nil lead at the half.

Air Force looked aggressive coming out of the halftime locker room, getting to work quickly to set up Dewing's unassisted goal four minutes into the second half. The goal was Dewing's second of the weekend.

Despite Air Force's best efforts, Wake Forest fended off three second-half shots on target to hold the Falcons scoreless until the final horn.

In his second start against a top-25 team in as many tries, John Byszewski recorded two saves on the match while his counterpart Trace Alphin was good for three saves. Air Force defenders Tyler Johnson and Wills Burns clocked 90 minutes of action on the pitch.

"I think we played a better game today than we did Friday," head coach Doug Hill said. "We started strong in the opening 25 a good counterattack on their part gave them the opportunity they needed. Our guys never quit, I was pleased with our ball possessions and offensive shots— I feel like we did get better as the game went on and we had opportunities down to the very end. Our opponents were a quality counter-attacking team and that showed tonight. We're learning a lot of lessons in these close losses so moving forward we want to take these lessons with wins. Overall, it was a productive weekend on the road against two top-25 teams."

The Falcons return to action on the road as they head south for matches against Missouri State on Friday (Sept. 2) and, Central Arkansas on Monday (Sept. 5). Action is slated for 7 p.m. CT and noon CT, respectively.

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Players Mentioned

London Aghedo

Jake Angeletti

Wills Burns

John Byszewski

Brandon Cobb

Thaddaeus Dewing

Tyler Johnson

Remi Smith