Sept. 30, 2008

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Wake Forest's Austin da Luz was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week after helping his top-ranked Demon Deacons to a pair of wins, including a 4-2 victory at No. 2 Maryland in front of a Ludwig Field record crowd of 6,500.

Da Luz came off the bench to make an immediate impact in Wake Forest's ACC win against the Terrapins, improving the Deacs to 8-0-0 on the season and 2-0-0 in league play. The eight wins to open the season marks the best start in school history, surpassing the 2007 squad that won the first seven games of the season.

The Winston-Salem native scored a goal and an assist in the Wake Forest victory. The junior helped Wake take the lead for the first time in the game in the 47th minute as he connected with teammate Zack Schilawski, who fired from 10 yards out, beating the keeper and giving the Deacons a 3-2 edge. The assist was da Luz's third on the season, which ranks him second on the team.

Da Luz then extended the lead to 4-2 with 31:49 remaining in the game. Teammate Marcus Tracy found the midfielder on the left side of the box. Da Luz's insurance shot from 16 yards out beat the keeper on the right side for his second goal of the season.

The three points scored in the game equals a career-high for da Luz, ranking the junior third on the team with seven points. In addition, da Luz played 32 minutes of action in Wake's 1-0 victory over Appalachian State last Wednesday at Spry Stadium.

Wake Forest returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 1, stepping out of conference action and traveling to in-state foe Elon. Opening kick off is set for 7 p.m. ET.