Elon and UNCW of the CAA picked up big non-conference wins on the road when they beat No. 12 Wake Forest and No. 22 Duke, both unbeaten teams from the ACC. The wins weren’t big surprises as Elonpicked up its third straight victory against Wake since 2012 while the Seahawks earned their fourth consecutive victory over the Blue Devils.
Elon extended its unbeaten start to 6-0-0 bydefeating Wake Forest, 1-0, om the road. Eduardo Alvarez scored on a penalty kick late in the first half. That was enough as Matthew Jegier posted its fifth shutout in six games.
Alvarez’s goal snapped Wake Forest’s 327-minute shutout streak dating back to Aug. 30.
UNCWused a three-goal second half to extend its win streak to five consecutive games with a 3-0 victory over Duke at Koskinen Stadium.
The Seahawks, who improved to 5-0-1 on the season, wonon goals by Daniel Escobar, Ben Fisher and Colin Bonner.
“This was an important road win against Duke,” said Coach Aidan Heaney, who earned his 129th victory at UNCW, tying the school record held by
UNCW opens conference play Saturday at Hofstra, which was ranked earlier in the season. The Pride has only trailed in one game this season,in a 2-0 loss to American last week that was the team’s only defeat.
Hofstra junior midfielder Joseph Holland‘s 12 points (four goals, fourassists) trails only Bonner for the CAA lead. Bonner has 16 points and Holland’s goal total is tied for second behind Bonner’s six.