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If family ties have anything to do with Wake Forest’s women soccer team playing in the College Cup this weekend in Cary, then Coach Tony da Luz should feel confident. The veteran coach of the Demon Deacons has had a son, Austin, win a national championship for the Wake Forest men’s team in 2007 and a nephew, Joe da Luz, win a national championship for Georgetown in 2019. “That’s got to give us an advantage, right?” da Luz said about third-ranked Wake Forest playing on Friday at 5 p.
m. against Stanford at WakeMed Soccer Park. “To have that all in one family at one field like that is pretty crazy.
” Coach Tony da Luz is heading to his second College Cup. The Demon Deacons also made it to the College Cup in 2011. Wake Forest and Stanford will play in the early game while Duke and North Carolina play in the second game of the College Cup.
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. For da Luz, 63, he’s been a lifer in the game of soccer and is in his 28th season in Winston-Salem. He and his wife, Amy, have raised their three sons here with Austin, Tyler and Jonah.
Austin, 37, played 10 seasons of pro soccer and now works in the game at the same WakeMed Soccer Park. He is in the front office of the North Carolina FC team of the United Soccer League and the NC Courage team, which plays in the National Women’s Soccer League. Austin and his wife have two small children, and it wasn’t long after his father clinched his second College Cup appearance Austin was wondering where his NCAA championship ring was.
Austin da Luz helped Wake Forest win the men's NCAA championship in 2007 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Now, Austin's father, Tony, will bring the Wake Forest women's program to Cary on Friday to play in the College Cup against Stanford. “I was talking with my mom and I know it’s here at our house (in Durham) so I guess I need to try and find it,” Austin said.
Tony offers a big smile when he’s asked about the family pressure of getting his national championship. “We haven’t actually talked that much about it,” Tony said. “He’s got his and my nephew has a ring so maybe it’s my turn.
” The Demon Deacons have had a memorable season thanks in large part to a roster that’s been developed the old-fashioned way. Sure, there are a few transfers who have helped but da Luz is proud of the fact that a lot of his players have worked together to reach the ultimate place in college soccer. “They’ve been through it with COVID, and our rash of injuries in some of those seasons and it’s just rewarding to see them come out on the other side of it all,” said da Luz, who has more than 300 wins.
As a veteran coach da Luz has his many one-liners that he makes sure to tell his players to get their attention. Junior forward Caiya Hanks, who has had an outstanding NCAA Tournament so far, was asked about da Luz’ coaching style. She says he’s tough and demanding but there’s a culture of being a family that’s the most important.
Wake Forest's Caiya Hanks has been on a tear so far in the NCAA Tournament. “I would tell any girl in the country that it’s such a joy to play for him,” Hanks said. “We are excited that we’re going to the College Cup but I think a lot of us are more excited for him.
He deserves this.” Hanks, who was named the Top Drawer Soccer player of the week, tried to narrow it down to one of da Luz one-liners that stood out. She couldn’t resist to tell a story about one day at a practice that wasn’t going very well, and da Luz told the team what he expected.
“So, he says ‘make it look like soccer,’” Hanks said. “And we all just started laughing because he really likes to lighten the mood. And that did it.
” On Tuesday afternoon before practice began on a frigid day the Demon Deacons were getting ready on the Spry Stadium practice fields, but they first had to sing. They joined together in wishing a teammate happy birthday and it wasn’t a surprise that they were all in unison singing the song. That’s also how they’ve played this season, and that togetherness stands as one of the main reasons they are in the College Cup, according to Sierra Sythe, a sophomore forward.
“We have a lot of coherence off the field and when we are in the locker room, we make sure to say we love each other because we all have a lot of passion for the game,” Sythe said. “That support for each other just shows up on the field all the time.” When talking about his team da Luz says there’s a sense of togetherness because they’ve went through the low points together.
“This is not a portal team,” da Luz said. “We brought in three kids from the portal over two years, but this team has grown and some of them didn’t play early in their careers. Now, they are playing, and they’ve grown and developed, and those kids appreciate what they have done and how they’ve done it.
” Austin says his college years were so much fun because he got to be closer to his father, who was coaching the Wake women’s team at the same time. Austin remembers a lot about how his father was building the program each season. “I think he’s done a really good job of remaining even keel and being true to himself,” Austin said.
“He’s adapted to the game, and he’s brought in tremendous assistant coaches (Brittany Cameron, Courtney Drummond and Taylor Culp) and they all push to improve the program every day.” Tony says the entire family has supported him throughout the years. Before he came to Wake Forest in 1997 the San Diego native coached at San Diego, where he played and where he graduated from.
Wake Forest's Sierra Sythe says part of the team's success has been togetherness on and off the field. “He’s my biggest supporter,” da Luz said about Austin. “And really, my three boys are always at my games, and they’ve been there the whole way.
” Because the Demon Deacons played at Southern Cal last week it was a bit of a homecoming for da Luz. But he used that as fuel to let his team know that there can be distractions. “I had all my family and friends at Southern Call for the game and it’s been easy to get distracted but my message to the team is this is all great but let’s not get distracted by what we are trying to do,” da Luz said.
What they will be trying to do this weekend is win the school’s first national championship in women’s soccer. “We can do it, because we believe it,” Hanks said. jdell@wsjournal.
com 336-727-4081 @johndellWSJ Friday, Semifinals No. 2 Wake Forest vs. No.
3 Stanford, 5 p.m. (ESPNU) No.
1 Duke vs. No. 2 North Carolina, 7:30 p.
m. (ESPNU) Monday, National Championship 7 p.m.
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