WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 25 nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina men's soccer team defeated the No. 7 nationally-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons 2-0 in the Chanticleers final exhibition match Saturday night at Spry Stadium.

Wake Forest looked to strike early tallying eight shots to CCU's one just 15 minutes into the contest. Joey Batrouni recorded his first save of the night in the 10th minute to keep the scoreline at 0-0. With 14 minutes left before the break, the Chants' Ethan Hackenberg put the visitors up 1-0 as he connected with the bottom left corner of the net on a pass from Noah Glorioso and Alvaro Garcia-Pasqual. 

Marcello Jones notched the Chants' second goal of the contest to increase CCU's lead to 2-0 in the 72nd minute, after connecting on a pass from Mads Paulson. The Demon Deacons looked to convert the equalizer but ultimately could not find the back of the net.

Wake Forest finished the match with 21 shots while CCU posted 12 total shots. Itopoulos and Brorsson each had a team-leading four shots. The Demon Deacons had seven shots on goal, while the Chanticleers found the advantage in the box recording seven saves to Wake Forest's one. Wake Forest recorded 10 corner kicks while CCU did not take one.

"It was great again to get so many guys in the game tonight against a very good, quality team such as Wake Forest," head coach Shaun Docking said. "We continue to be a work in progress and learned a lot about our young and new group again tonight. We are forming a strong core group now as we head into our first game of the year this week against Kentucky."

Notably, the Demon Deacons and Chanticleers last met in the Second Round of the 2020 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship on May 2. Wake Forest struck early with two first-half goals before CCU answered just 90 seconds into the second half, cutting Wake's lead in half at 2-1. With just eight minutes left to play, CCU once again cut the lead to just one, 3-2.

Coastal Carolina will open regular-season action as the Chants welcome Conference-USA foe and the No. 14 ranked Kentucky Wildcats to Conway on Thursday, Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. ET.

For complete coverage of CCU men's soccer, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalMSoccer (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.