Amaral and Sythe Earn ACC Player of the Week Honors
Photo Courtesy Wake Forest Soccer
CHARLOTTE — Wake Forest redshirt juniors Sierra Sythe and Valentina Amaral were named ACC Defensive Player of the Week and ACC Co-Goalkeeper of the Week, respectively, the league office announced Tuesday, after the Demon Deacons opened the season with two shutout wins over SEC opponents.
The honor marks the first weekly recognition of Sythe's career and the second for Amaral in the past two years. Both players were central to Wake Forest's victories over LSU and South Carolina last week. Amaral recorded five saves in the season-opening win over the Tigers and one save Sunday against the Gamecocks, while Sythe anchored a backline that limited South Carolina to just five shots and one shot on target.
The two wins marked the 14th and 15th shutouts of Amaral's career, along with her 24th and 25th career victories.
Valentina Amaral
Amaral started in net for Wake Forest's 2024 College Cup national finalist team and was called up to the U.S. U-20 Women's National Team training camp in June. She closed the 2024 season with the best goals-against average in program history at 0.69, allowed the fewest goals in ACC play that year with seven, and posted five shutouts in conference matches, the second-most in the league. She also recorded back-to-back clean sheets against then-No. 1 Stanford and then-No. 2 Virginia.
During Wake Forest's 2024 postseason run, Amaral logged three shutouts and held steady through the penalty shootout that sent the Demon Deacons to the College Cup final. As a freshman, she didn't allow a goal all season, with the team going a perfect 3-0 in her appearances, including a shutout in her collegiate debut.
Amaral earned All-ACC Third Team and All-American Third Team honors in 2025, finishing second in the conference with 81 saves and fourth with a .794 save percentage. She recorded six clean sheets as a redshirt sophomore.
Sierra Sythe
Sythe has received multiple call-ups to the U.S. Youth National Team's U-23 squad and helped anchor one of the nation's best defensive records in 2024. She started all 20 matches in 2025, logging more minutes than any other outfield player on the roster.
Offensively, Sythe broke into Wake Forest's record book with nine assists last season, tying for sixth-most in a single season in program history. She finished second on the team with 15 points and scored three goals across her appearances. She was also ranked No. 40 on TopDrawerSoccer's midseason rankings in 2025.