Wake Forest Soccer dominates in 4-1 win over Boston College

It hasn't been the easiest of roads lately for the Wake Forest men's soccer team, dropping their last two contests, but there's only one way to bounce back - with a dominating win, which they did in a 4-1 victory over the Boston College Eagles.

First on the board just five minutes into the game was Wake Forest - sort of. A Boston College defender deflected the ball into his own net to go down 0-1, despite the Deacs having yet to record a shot. Things wouldn't get much better for the Deacs for the next 30 minutes as the Eagles held them to just one shot before adding their own goal from Cole DeNormandie in the 31st minute to make it a 1-1 game. But less than a minute later, Jon Bakero took advantage of a setup from Kris Reaves and Jared Odenbeck to bury one in the back of the net and give Wake a 2-1 lead.

Bakero wasn't done for the night though, as the freshman midfielder picked up his second goal of the night, and his third of the season, this time being assisted by Ricky Greensfelder and Jacori Hayes to make it 3-1 at the end of the first half. "I’m really happy for the two goals," Bakero said. "It’s a big night for us. Without the help of my teammates I couldn’t have scored. They just make me score all the time and I’m really happy for that."

Putting the nail in the coffin was Greensfelder, who headed in a rebound by Michael Gamble in the 58th minute to give the Deacs a commanding 4-1 lead and making an Eagle comeback essentially unthinkable. For the remainder of the games, Wake kept Boston College at bay to pick up their first win in three games.

While the team has found somewhat of a true striker in Hank Gauger, who has three goals so far this season, the majority of the offensive power has come from the midfield. The secret to that goal-scoring success, according to Greensfelder, is the team's ability to play on both sides of the ball. "I think it comes from our willingness to keep pushing, up and back," Greensfelder said. "Defensively we win the ball and everyone’s willing to get forward and get numbers up top, so it’s just easy for everyone to find a goal."

With only a handful of regular season games left on the calendar for the Demon Deacons, it's time to for the team to keep their eyes focused on the prize ahead - getting a good seed for the ACC Tournament and better their postseason chances. Only four games remain - two of those against ACC rivals Virginia and Louisville - and each one counts. "Of course we want to get into the tournament, that’s what we’re looking for and we’re fighting for that," Bakero said. "I think the team has stepped up a lot tonight; and also against Syracuse even though we lost. We have to rise above this and get more wins and try to get the ACC tournament and also the national championship."