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Tony da Luz
As head coach of the Wake Forest women's soccer team for 26 of the program's 29 seasons, Tony da Luz has built the Demon Deacons into an ACC and national powerhouse.
Through 2022, he holds a 293-193-53 record at Wake Forest, with his 293 wins ranking third among coaches of ACC programs since the conference first recognized women's soccer in 1987. Da Luz is one of only 10 coaches in Wake Forest history across all sports to win 200 games at the helm of the Demon Deacons.
Under da Luz's guidance, Wake Forest has earned a bid to the NCAA Tournament in 21 of his 26 seasons. In 2011, he achieved his greatest success to date, leading the Demon Deacons to their first-ever College Cup appearance.
Recent years have seen Wake Forest reach a new level of women's soccer prominence. The Deacons captured the 2010 ACC Championship, the first in the history of the program, and made a return trip to the ACC Tournament final in 2011. The 2012 Wake Forest squad finished in a tie for second place in the ACC standings, equaling the program's best-ever finish. After a three-year drought, the team returned to the ACC Tournament in 2017, meaning no class under da Luz has ever gone without making an ACC Tournament appearance.
Wake Forest's success under da Luz has not only been limited to the conference level. In addition to their 17-straight NCAA Tournament appearances, the Deacons also advanced to at least the second round in eight straight seasons and have reached the NCAA Quarterfinals twice - culminating in the program's first College Cup in 2011. The team returned to the second round of the tournament in 2017 and 2021, then reached the round of 16 in 2018. Under da Luz's guidance, Wake Forest has constantly produced some of the most talented players in the nation.
Former Deacon Katie Stengel helped lead the U.S. U-20 team to the 2012 FIFA U-20 World Cup title, starting at forward in the championship match. Stengel led the ACC in scoring in both her freshman and sophomore years, scoring 16 goals in 2010 and 19 goals in 2011, becoming the first-ever Wake Forest player to lead the conference in scoring and the first player since North Carolina's Mia Hamm in 1992 and 1993 to win the ACC's goal-scoring title in back-to-back seasons. She was named the 2011 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, the first Demon Deacon to take home that award, after having taken home ACC Freshman of the Year and Top Drawer Soccer National Freshman of the Year honors in her freshman season. Stengel earned All-America honors in all four of her seasons at Wake Forest.
Former Wake Forest goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe also earned widespread recognition as one of the best keepers in the country. A two-time NSCAA All-American and two-time All-ACC honoree, Bledsoe holds the Wake Forest all-time shutout record.
In total, 51 Deacs have earned All-ACC honors under da Luz, including 14 first-team selections, one ACC Player of the Year and three ACC Rookies of the Year. Da Luz has helped guide four Freshmen All-Americans and 16 to the ACC All-Freshman team, including one National Rookie of the Year winner. Also, 28 Deacs have been named All-Southeast Region, two have been named to All-East region teams, three have been named to All-Atlantic region teams and 12 have been selected to ACC Championship all-tournament teams, while the team has continually been ranked among the top-25 in the nation. Long respected as one of the nation's top managers, da Luz was named the 1998 ACC Coach of the Year in a vote of his peers.
In 2022, Da Luz led Wake Forest to the NCAA Tournament for the 22nd time in program history. The Deacs accumulated an impressive .778 goals-against-average, while recording nine shutouts. Of note, the Demon Deacons ranked within the top 50 nationally in both categories. Additionally, defensively, the Deacs ranked first in the ACC in total goals allowed (16).
Freshman Caiya Hanks became the 17th player in Wake Forest history to earn ACC All-Freshman Team honors.
In the fourth round of the 2023 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) draft, San Diego Wave FC selected three-time captain Giovanna DeMarco with the 45th overall pick. With DeMarco's selection, Wake Forest has had a player drafted in five-consecutive NWSL drafts. Additionally, DeMarco marked the seventh Demon Deacon drafted in the last four years and the ninth overall.
Wake Forest made its 21st overall NCAA Tournament appearance during the 2021 season. The Demon Deacons moved to 21-20-1 record in the tournament. The Deacs recorded 12 shutouts in 2021, tying the most since 2017 when they managed 12. The Deacs defense limited opponents to a total of 17 goals, a new program record for the least goals allowed in a single season. Wake Forest set a new record for most consecutive shutouts when they began the season with eight consecutive shutouts. Two Demon Deacons garnered ACC honors. Senior Shayla Smart earned Third Team All-ACC honors while freshman Nikayla Small landed on the ACC All-Freshman Team. It was the 20th time Wake Forest earned two or more All-ACC accolades. Wake Forest's 16 wins is the quickest any Wake Forest team has achieved this mark.
Twelve different Deacs scored at least one goal and six of the Deacs' 12 goal scorers scored two or more goals. Through 22 games, Wake Forest scored 43 goals, which is the most goals a Wake Forest team scored since 2011 (52). The Demon Deacons toppled Duke in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. The victory was Wake Forest's highest ranked win ever as the Blue Devils were ranked No. 2 in the country at the time. Kaitlyn Parks was the first Wake Forest player since 2011 to earn United Soccer Coaches All-America recognition and became the third to be named to the Second Team. Parks, Shayla Smart and Jenna Menta were named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region Team.
Ryanne Brown was drafted 21st overall by OL Reign, while Jenna Menta was drafted 30th overall by the Racing Louisville. Wake Forest was joined by Stanford, USC, UCLA, Washington State, Duke, Santa Clara, Georgetown and Purdue as the only schools to have multiple picks in the 2021 NWSL draft. The Demon Deacons have had six players drafted in the last three years and eight overall. The seven players on the All-ACC Academic team improved the previous record of six Deacs on the team. The student-athletes include graduate students Hulda Arnarsdittor, Ryanne Brown, Jenna Menta, seniors Sofia Rossi, Shayla Smart, junior Kaitlyn Parks and freshman Nikayla Small.
Wake Forest finished the 2020-21 season with a 5-7-2 record and a 3-4-1 record in ACC play. The Demon Deacons earned all five of their wins on shutouts, including a ranked win over No. 14 Notre Dame. Ten freshmen made appearances in competition to combine for 5,982 minutes played of the 14,577 minutes possible. Five freshmen made at least eight starts or more with eight clocking in at least one start. Kaitlyn Parks earned three ACC Weekly honors and was the first player in ACC history to be announced as the Defensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks. Two Demon Deacons collected ACC honors: Hannah Betfort was selected as a third-team All-ACC honoree, while Sophie Faircloth was picked as an ACC All-Freshman Team recipient in the fall of 2020. Senior Hannah Betfort was selected by Portland Thorns FC in NWSL Draft. Betfort became the sixth Demon Deacon to be selected in the NWSL Draft and the ninth currently on a professional team.
In 2018, Wake Forest played the fourth-toughest schedule in the nation, which paid off with an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, where the team beat Ohio State and advanced past top-10 West Virginia in PKs to the round of 16. After the season, Bayley Feist was selected in the second round of the NWSL Draft following an All-ACC and All-Region season.
2017 was an impressive feat for da Luz and the Demon Deacons. The team returned to the national rankings for the first time since 2014, reaching as high as No.15 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. After being selected to finish ninth in the preseason ACC polls, the Deacs finished fifth in the standings and returned to the ACC Tournament. Wake Forest then returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, making it to the second round. The team was one of two teams in the ACC to beat three different top-20 RPI opponents in the regular season. At the end of the season, four Deacons earned All-ACC honors while a program-record six were named to the All-ACC Academic Team.
Maddie Huster and Ally Haran were both selected in the NWSL Draft at the end of the 2017 campaign. They were the first Deacs to be drafted right out of Wake Forest since 2013.
The 2011 season was the culmination of da Luz's methodical build-up of Wake Forest to one of the nation's elite teams. Led by ACC Offensive Player of the Year Katie Stengel along with 12-goal scorer Rachel Nuzzolese and All-ACC First Team performer Aubrey Bledsoe, the team jumped out to an 11-1-1 start. The Deacons turned it up a notch in the postseason, upsetting top-seed Duke to reach the ACC Championship Match for the second year in a row, and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time before posting multi-goal wins over Oakland, Boston University, Penn State and UCF to reach their first-ever College Cup. The 2011 squad finished with a program-best 18-4-4 record and was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally in the NSCAA poll and No. 1 in the NCAA RPI ranking - with both marks the highest in program history.
Da Luz achieved what might be his most impressive accomplishment in 2010 when he guided a team that was picked to finish seventh in the preseason to the program's first-ever ACC Championship. Under his tutelage, freshman forwards Katie Stengel and Rachel Nuzzolese established themselves as one of the most dynamic striking duos in the nation. As a rookie, Stengel set new school records with 16 goals and 37 points and received numerous honors, including ACC Freshman of the Year and TopDrawerSoccer National Rookie of the Year.
Da Luz enjoyed one of his most successful seasons in 2009, as the Demon Deacons finished the year with a 16-6-2 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Wake Forest's national ranking was as high as No. 5 during the season, then highest ranking in program history, and the Deacs finished the year with a No. 8 national ranking. Goalkeepers Amanda Barasha and Laura Morse combined for a program record 15 clean sheets during the year. Led by All-Americans Kaley Fountain and Jill Hutchinson, Wake Forest easily advanced to the Round of 16 in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, picking up a pair of home victories with a 2-0 win against Kennesaw State and a 3-0 victory against West Virginia. Wake reached its first quarterfinal appearance in program history with a dramatic 1-0 win at South Carolina on Bess Harrington's header goal as time expired. The magical run came to an end in the quarters as Wake fell, 5-2, at eventual national champion North Carolina.
The 2007 season was another successful one for the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest finished the season with a 13-7-3 record, including an impressive 6-2-2 mark in the ACC to tie for second place - its highest-ever conference finish. The Deacons advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th straight year, defeating Boston University in the first round, before falling to Connecticut in the second round.
Prior to coming to Wake Forest, da Luz coached five years at the University of San Diego, where he compiled a 46-42-3 record. Da Luz was entrusted with starting the San Diego program from the ground up in 1992 and in his final two seasons he guided his teams to a 25-13-2 mark. His final season at San Diego was his most impressive, leading the Toreros to a 15-7-1 record and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 1996. His success at San Diego earned him West Coast Conference Coach of the Year honors in 1996. He was named the West Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association. He worked as an assistant coach for the San Diego men's team from 1985 until 1991.
He has also been active in coaching at the youth level with his involvement with the Winston-Salem Twins Club organizations.
Da Luz achieved success as a player as a midfielder and defender while at San Diego. He was an All-WCC honorable mention selection in both 1981 and 1982. As team captain in 1982, he led the Toreros in assists and earned the team MVP award. Da Luz earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from San Diego in 1985.
He and his wife, Amy, reside in Winston-Salem and have three children Tyler, Austin and Jonah. Austin, who was an All-ACC selection for the Wake Forest men's soccer team, played professionally for North Carolina FC in the NASL after previously spending time with the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United in MLS.
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