Charlotte—Wake Forest brings out the best in Evan James. The Charlotte forward tallied the Niners’ second goal and was instrumental in the game-winner during Charlotte’s 2-0 win over the Demon Deacons Tuesday night at Transamerica Field.
“Coach told us to come out strong because Wake Forest is a great team,” James said. “I don’t want to say that playing good teams brings the best out in me, but your biggest adversary is your best friend, it brings the best out of you.”
Nearly a year ago, the Niners traveled to Winston-Salem for a battle with the 3rd-ranked Demon Deacons. The outcome then wasn’t dissimilar to Tuesday’s heavyweight bout, as James scored Charlotte’s first goal to lead the Niners to a 3-1 victory.
That win broke Wake Forest’s 46-game unbeaten streak against non-conference opponents, which was then the longest in the nation.
“He really likes playing against this team,” Charlotte coach Jeremy Gunn said of James’ performance. “He absolutely terrorized them last year with a phenomenal goal and set up an incredible goal as well. He comes alive and he gets excited. He had a phenomenal night tonight.”
Charlotte didn’t waste much time Tuesday night in pilfering Wake Forest keeper Akira Fitzgerald with a number of scoring opportunities. Just 16 minutes in, Charlotte forward Jennings Rex missed a prime opportunity. Charlotte senior Andres Cuero fed the ball to Rex who then sidestepped Fitzgerald, leaving a wide open net. Rex’s shot went just a bit outside though, and the game remained scoreless.
In the 32nd minute, the Niners generated another quality attempt when T.J. Beaulieu broke in undetected on the Wake Forest keeper. Fitzgerald made a diving stop and kept the game scoreless. Just a minute later however, the Niners would strike.
After a series of defensive stops, Charlotte counter attacked. James got the ball near midfield and went streaking down the right side, after deking around a Demon Deacon defender, James sent in his cross, the ball deflected off a Wake Forest defender and off Fitzgerald, into the net. James didn’t receive credit for the tally, but made the play happen.
Charlotte could have been happy with heading into the break with a 1-0 lead, but they didn’t take the foot off the gas pedal. After setting up the first goal, James officially found the back of the net in the 41st minute. After taking a pass from Tyler Gibson, sophomore forward Donnie Smith blazed a trail down the left side and sent a cross to a waiting James, who deposited it into the back of the old onion bag for his second goal of the season.
After returning from a road trip to play games at UAB and Memphis, it would have been easy for the Niners to come out flat. But that didn’t happen. Charlotte carried play for the majority of the first half and led in the shot department 7-5 at the mid-way point.
“It was phenomenal with the intensity. We really took the game to Wake Forest and created great chances right from the start,” Gunn said of Charlotte’s hot start. “You couldn’t have wished for a better performance. We played Friday and Saturday and had a really long road trip. It would have been easy for us to come out tonight and try and ease our way into things.”
Wake Forest came out with a little more fire in the second half, but Charlotte starting goalkeeper Patrick Eavenson and the Niner defense didn’t budge. Eavenson made five saves on the way to the win. Defenders Charles Rodriguez and Isaac Cowles both contributed to Charlotte’s strong defensive play and didn’t allow the Demon Deacons to garner a legitimate scoring opportunity.
“Pat [Eavenson] showed great confidence tonight and dominated his area,” Gunn said of Eavenson’s strong play in net. “He made a couple of great saves, his distribution was fantastic, he was talking to the players and really settled the ship. It was a great first start for him so he’s got to be real proud of himself.”
Both teams ended the game with 12 shots on goal as James led the way for the Niners with four shots while Beaulieu followed closely with three of his own. Fitzgerald recorded three saves for the Demon Deacons and midfielder Ben Newman recorded three shots to lead Wake Forest. Charlotte has outscored Wake Forest 5-1 in the last two meetings between the teams.
The Niners return to the pitch on Saturday in Buies Creek, N.C. for a 7 p.m. match-up with Campbell.
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