(scroll down for lineups and details of the St. John's vs. Notre Dame match)

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA – Freshman Sean Randolph scored the 2^nd half winner as Jay Vidovich’s Wake Forest Demon Deacons picked up a hard-fought 2-1 win over Indiana here Sunday in the closing match of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic.

Randolph took a pass from Austin da Luz and finished from a sharp angle to put the Deacons (1-0-1) on top somewhat against the run of play in the 2^nd half. Vidovich’s squad were bolstered throughout by good midfield play from Ike Opara and Corben Bone, plus dangerous wing play from da Luz. Indiana falls to 0-1-1.

Vidovich is working with a greatly-changed lineup from the team that was a perennial national championship contender, but nothing I saw here today makes me think the results will be any different this year. The veteran coach credited his young players with coming of age a bit today, and he admitted he enjoys this challenge just as he did being the big kid on the block.

 "It's a different kind of fun. I had a lot of fun the last two years too," he said. "Maybe today wasn't the kind of soccer you expect from a Wake Forest team, but the fact is they learned how to win and  really grew up on their way to a result here. It's the difference between your son graduating from college and getting out of kindergarten. They've grown up some today and done really well."

While youngsters like Randoph played their part, veteran leaders like goalkeeper Akira Fitzgerald, forward Zach Schilawski and especially winger Austin da Luz were very influential. Da Luz acknowledge he had an increased leadership role on this team, and also credited the young players with stepping up quickly.

"For sure (I have a different role in leadership). For three years those guys were great leaders and me and Zach and Akira were able to play with less pressure but this year we are definitely forced into more of a leadership role," he said. "We've done it together. The young guys have done a great job of following our example and pushing each other so we can have success here in these first few games. Definitely we took a big step. To beat Indiana at Indiana is a huge victory. We have a lot of respect for this program and it's an intimidating place to play. To come in here with so many young guys and basically a new team and to get a result is big for our confidence and we want to take that to Clemson next week (ACC opener)."

The Hoosiers had a good chance early on when Tommy Meyer’s redirect from an Andy Adlard corner went just wide. Wake had a couple of dangerous set piece early on, but despite good deliveries from midfielder Corben Bone, couldn’t convert. IU’s Eric Alexander then put on a good individual move at 12 minutes but his shot was saved by Akira Fitzgerald.

Wake then broke through in the 13^th minute when Austin da Luz served in a bullet corner. Luke Norman headed it toward the far post and in a last-gasp attempt to clear it off the line, IU’s Alec Purdie sent it into his own net, giving the Deacons a 1-0 lead.

IU began to create a few more chances from that point. Dan Kelly and Joe Tolen combined to set up Eric Alexander for a header in the area that Fitzgerald caught. Cameron Jordan then set up Purdie with a good pass but Wake’s Nick Courtney did well to break up the attack. Moments later Will Bruin latched onto a loose ball in the area and struck a volley that Fitzgerald acrobatically tipped wide.

On the other end, Andy Lubahn slipped a nice pass to Zach Schilawski, but the shot was comfortably held by IU goalkeeper Luis Soffner.

As the 2^nd half began, IU appeared to be more interested in playing the ball over the top, with the Wake central midfield of Ike Opara, Corben Bone and Austin da Luz dictating much of the play in the middle of the park.

The Hoosiers had a couple of near misses 15 minutes into the half, with Fitzgerald making a good save off a Will Bruin header, and the referee waving play on after what looked to be a pretty strong penalty claim. That said, a Bone through pass on the break was canceled out by a very dubious offside ruling.

None of that mattered to Eric Alexander  who scored via  smart finish inside the far post in the 62^nd minute. Alexander had been set up by a good pass from Lee Hagedorn.

Andy Adlard went into the referee’s book after going down in the area under pressure from a Wake defender, but the referee decided it was simulation and put Adlard into the book with a yellow card. The Hoosiers came even closer to going ahead when Will Bruin made a surging run through the middle before setting up Darren Yeagle for a drive inside the area that crashed off the bar.

Despite all the IU pressure, it was Wake’s Sean Randolph who got the go-ahead goal in the 72^nd minute off an assist from da Luz.

Opara was dropping back to the d-line as Indiana tried to press forward in the closing minutes. Indiana was awarded a dangerous free kick in the 83^rd minute, but Adlard’s drive was blocked by the wall. Bruin earned a late corner with a strong run, but da Luz showed he can play defense too, winning the cross in the area and clearing it from danger with a minute remaining.

Game Two Lineups

Wake Forest

GK: Akira Fitzgerald
D: Justin Lichtfuss, Kyle Adams, Ike Opara, Nick Courtney
M: Anthony Arena, Austin da Luz, Luke Norman, Corben Bone
F: Andy Lubahn, Zach Schilawski
Subs: Sean Randolph, Ben Newman, Sam Redmond

Indiana

GK: Luis Soffner
D: Dan Kelly, Tommy Meyer, Ofori Sarkodie
M: Lee Hagedorn, Cameron Jordan, Rich Balchan, Andy Adlard, Eric Alexander
F: Alec Purdie, Will Bruin
Subs: Joe Tolen, Caleb Konstanski, Neil Wilmarth, Tim Wylie

St. John's 2, Notre Dame 0

The Fighting Irish had a couple of good scoring chances in the opening half. Steven Perry was taken down in the penalty area to earn a 16^th minute penalty, but Mike Thomas’ effort from the spot was saved by St. John's goalkeeper Derby Carrillo. Just before halftime Notre Dame’s Bright Dike let loose with a ferocious drive, but it was held well by Carrillo.

Midway through the 2^nd half, Sverre Wegge Gundhus showed some good footwork on the edge of the area before hitting a left-footed blast that beat Notre Dame keeper Philip Tuttle for a 1-0 lead. Notre Dame’s Justin Morrow nearly answered immediately with a run through the middle and a rocket launch that went just wide.

Another near miss for Notre Dame came in the 79^th minute when Sean McGrath served a ball in which slipped through Carrillo’s hands. The ball was stopped from going in however by Notre Dame’s Perry, who was standing on the St. Johns’ goal line. Fighting Irish goalkeeper Philip Tuttle had a shot in goal during a late all-out effort to equalize, but this worked against Notre Dame as Nelson Becerra ended up scoring in the final few seconds from midfield with the net left empty, giving St. John's the 2-0 win.

Notre Dame winger Jeb Brovsky was good through the match, as was the St. John's duo of Gundhus and defender Joel Gustafsson.

St. John's head coach Dave Masur said the game was a tale of two halves.

"We created a lot of chances in the 1st half and in the 2nd half maybe we had to defend more and maybe we didn't go forward as well as we could have when we won the ball," Masur said. "Soccer is a game of small margins. Our keeper played well today. Derby made some big plays coming off his line and saving a PK. We're really pleased to get a result over what we think is a fantastic Notre Dame team."

Game One Lineups

St. John's

GK: Derby Carrillo
D: Beck Clack, David Reed, Connor Lade, Joel Gustafsson
M: Sverre Wegge Gundhus, Tadeu Terra, Pablo Punyed, Walter Hines
F: Adam Himeno, Josh Faga
Subs: Trevor Chiduku, Cristian Gonzalez, Nelson Becerra

Notre Dame

GK: Philip Tuttle
D: Aaron Maund, Bilal Duckett, Sean McGrath, John Schaefer
M: Dave Donohue, Michael Thomas, Matt Armstrong, Justin Morrow
F: Steven Perry, Tamba Samba
Subs: Jeb Brovsky, Bright Dike, Brendan King, Adam Mena, Josh Thiermann, Dillon Powers