Wake Forest Edges Bowling Green 1-0 in Tough Match
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Wake Forest didn’t just grind out a win on Monday night. It survived one.
On a chewed‑up field at Cochrane Stadium, under a barrage of long throws and late pressure, the Demon Deacons leaned on a first-half moment of quality from Chandler Young and a rugged second-half stand to edge Bowling Green, 1-0.
One Chance, Taken
For 42 minutes, Wake Forest had all the control and none of the reward.
They dictated the ball, stacked up corners, and pushed the Falcons back, but the final touch kept eluding them. Seven shots, four corners, plenty of promise. No breakthrough.
Then the game flipped.
In the 43rd minute, Mason Sullivan drove a low ball into the attacking third. At the edge of the box, Marcos Miranda supplied the touch of class Wake’s possession deserved, redirecting the pass neatly into Young’s path. Young didn’t hesitate. One composed finish, and the Demon Deacons finally had the 1-0 lead their first-half dominance demanded.
For Miranda, it was his first assist at the NCAA Division I level. For Sullivan, it was his first career assist and another full shift – the only outfield player to go the distance, again, for the third straight match.
The timing of the goal mattered. Wake Forest had pinned Bowling Green back for most of the half and limited the Falcons’ looks at goal. Going into the break with nothing to show for it would have invited trouble. Young’s strike changed the tone of the night.
Mednard Slams the Door
Trouble still arrived after halftime. Bowling Green came out with intent.
The Falcons threw bodies forward, peppering Wake Forest with 14 second-half shots and turning the match into a test of resilience. Long throws rained into the box. Corners piled up. Every loose ball felt dangerous.
Wake Forest’s answer stood in goal.
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Jonah Mednard read everything. He finished with six saves, four of them after the break, and none of them cheap. He denied efforts from Lucas Brinkman and Luciano Perez-Cernuda, smothering the kind of chances that usually swing tight games.
By the final whistle, Mednard had secured his second clean sheet in three games and the fifth solo shutout of his career, pushing his career save tally to 63. It was also Wake Forest’s first shutout on the road since a 0-0 draw at Duke on Oct. 12, 2024.
In front of him, the backline held its nerve. Starters Daniel Krueger, Sullivan, Ronnie Garcia and Travis Smith Jr. absorbed wave after wave, with second-half help from substitutes Will Kuisel, Copeland Berkley and Lorenze Currie. They didn’t erase Bowling Green’s shot count – the Falcons finished with 19 attempts, six on target – but they kept most of them from becoming clean, clear looks.
A Road Swing Reclaimed
This win didn’t come in isolation. It came on the heels of a gut punch.
On Friday, Wake Forest went toe-to-toe with No. 10 Akron, holding the Zips scoreless for more than 83 minutes before conceding late in a 1-0 defeat. That kind of loss can linger. It didn’t.
Instead, the Demon Deacons used Monday to reset the narrative of their Ohio trip.
They finished with 12 shots, five on target, five corners and 53 percent of the ball. Bowling Green had more shots and one more corner, but Wake Forest had the only number that mattered. The 1-0 win delivered the program’s first non-conference road victory since a 4-1 triumph at UNCW on Oct. 15, 2024.
It also sent them into league play with something far more important than style points: belief.
Man of the Match: Jonah Mednard
On a night when Wake Forest’s attack produced one decisive move, its goalkeeper made sure that was enough.
Mednard’s six-save shutout, backed by a defense that battled through roughly 20 long throw-ins and six corners, preserved the lead and locked in his fifth career solo clean sheet. His performance earned him Man of the Match honors, joining captain Jeffrey White and David Nguema (twice) as Wake Forest players recognized this season.
ACC Test on Deck
The Ohio swing is over. The margin for error now shrinks.
Wake Forest returns to Spry Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 5, to host Duke in its first ACC match of the season, kicking off at 7 p.m. A clean sheet on the road is one thing.
Producing the same steel and sharpness when the conference lights come on will tell everyone how far this team can really go.
