Wake Forest Opens 2026-27 Campaign With National Recognition Across Football, Soccer and Women’s Golf
Wake Forest athletics is entering the 2026-27 academic year with expectations extending well beyond the football field.
As the Demon Deacons prepare for another year of competition, several of the program’s most prominent returning athletes are already receiving national recognition, with football wide receiver Carlos Hernandez, women’s soccer goalkeeper Valentina Amaral and women’s golfers Macy Pate and Chloe Kovelesky earning spots on prestigious preseason watch lists.
The honors offer an early indication of the talent returning to Winston-Salem and provide another layer of anticipation as Wake Forest looks to build on a successful 2025-26 campaign.
From the football field to the soccer pitch and the golf course, the Demon Deacons have players entering the new season with national attention already following them.
Hernandez Brings Big-Play Ability to Wake Forest Football
Few Wake Forest players enter the 2026 football season with more momentum than senior wide receiver Carlos Hernandez.
The Alhambra, California, native has collected his fifth preseason honor after being named to the 2026 Hispanic Player of the Year Watch List by the Hispanic College Football Hall of Fame.
Hernandez enters the season after becoming one of the Demon Deacons' most dangerous offensive and special-teams weapons in 2025.
He appeared in all 13 games and made eight starts, finishing the season with 40 receptions for a team-high 611 yards and three receiving touchdowns. He also added a rushing touchdown and a punt-return touchdown.
His production surged late in the season.
Over Wake Forest's final four games, Hernandez caught 23 passes for 463 yards and three touchdowns. He recorded at least five receptions in each of those contests, including six catches in the Demon Deacons' Duke's Mayo Bowl victory over Mississippi State.
The senior also demonstrated his ability to change a game with one play.
Photo: Wake Forest
During the final five games of the 2025 season, Hernandez produced touchdown plays of 70, 79, 88 and 93 yards. His 93-yard touchdown reception against Delaware became the longest touchdown reception in Wake Forest history.
His impact was not limited to offense.
Hernandez totaled 249 punt-return yards, including an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown against No. 19 Virginia that helped Wake Forest secure bowl eligibility.
The preseason recognition has followed.
Hernandez was named a Phil Steele Preseason Third Team All-American, a Phil Steele Preseason First Team All-ACC selection as a returner and a Fourth Team All-ACC selection at wide receiver. He was also named to the Athlon Sports Preseason All-ACC Team.
Now, with a new season ahead, Wake Forest will look for Hernandez to continue providing the explosive plays that became a trademark of his 2025 campaign.
Amaral Gives Wake Forest a Veteran Presence in Goal
While Hernandez is preparing to make his impact on the football field, redshirt-junior goalkeeper Valentina Amaral has already started making her presence felt for Wake Forest women's soccer.
Amaral was named to the 2026 Mac Hermann Watch List after entering the season as one of the nation's most accomplished returning goalkeepers.
Through the opening three matches of the 2026 season, Amaral had yet to concede a goal. She was one of only two ACC goalkeepers without a goal allowed at that point and led the conference in shutouts per game, saves per game and save percentage.
Nationally, she was tied for the NCAA lead in save percentage and goals-against average while ranking tied for fourth in shutouts.
That early-season performance is another chapter in what has already been an impressive career.
Photo: Wake Forest
Amaral finished the 2025 season with six shutouts, 81 saves and a .794 save percentage. Her performance earned her All-ACC and All-America recognition, including a spot on the 2025 All-ACC Third Team and the All-America Third Team.
She also owns the best single-season goals-against average in Wake Forest program history, posting a 0.69 mark.
Her career 0.84 goals-against average currently sits atop the program record book as well.
Amaral's résumé also includes 2024 All-ACC Third Team and All-Atlantic Region honors, along with a 2026 ACC Co-Goalkeeper of the Week recognition.
With Wake Forest looking to continue competing at the top of the ACC, having an experienced goalkeeper anchoring the defense gives the Demon Deacons an important foundation.
And with the Mac Hermann Trophy recognizing the top Division I women's soccer player in the country, Amaral now has another opportunity to establish herself among the nation's elite.
Pate and Kovelesky Put Wake Forest Golf in the National Spotlight
The recognition continues on the golf course, where Wake Forest will enter the 2026-27 season with two players on the ANNIKA Award Preseason Watch List.
Senior Macy Pate and junior Chloe Kovelesky were both selected to the prestigious list, which recognizes some of the nation's top Division I women's golfers.
For Pate, the honor comes as she enters her final season as the lone senior on the Wake Forest roster.
The two-time All-American led the Demon Deacons during the 2025-26 season with a 70.1 adjusted scoring average, the best mark of her career. She finished the season ranked No. 21 on Scoreboard, making her the highest-ranked player on the Wake Forest team.
Photo: Wake Forest
Pate also turned in some of the strongest tournament performances of her career.
At the Stephens Cup, she posted a career-low 54-hole score of 202 and recorded rounds of 67 in both the opening and final rounds.
The three-time All-ACC selection finished among the top 15 in five of Wake Forest's seven regular-season tournaments and followed that with top-25 finishes at both the ACC Championship and NCAA Regionals.
Kovelesky enters her junior season after a breakout sophomore campaign of her own.
The Boca Raton, Florida, native recorded four top-10 finishes and four top-five finishes during the 2025-26 season while capturing her second career title as co-medalist at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
She followed that performance by producing career-best 54-hole and 18-hole scores at the Stephens Cup, where she tied for second.
Photo: Wake Forest
Kovelesky continued to deliver when the postseason arrived.
She finished third at the 2026 ACC Championship after shooting 9-under par. Her 207 total tied for the third-lowest 54-hole score to par in program history at the championship.
Both Pate and Kovelesky also represented Team USA at the 2026 Arnold Palmer Cup and competed in the U.S. Women's Amateur this past August.
Their inclusion on the ANNIKA Award Watch List gives Wake Forest two players with legitimate national credentials heading into another season.
A Program With Expectations Across the Board
The significance of these honors goes beyond the individual athletes.
Wake Forest is beginning the 2026-27 athletic year with national recognition spread across three different sports and multiple positions of importance.
Hernandez represents the explosive potential of the football program. Amaral provides experience and stability for a women's soccer team competing in one of the nation's strongest conferences. Pate and Kovelesky give the women's golf program two nationally recognized players capable of competing against the country's best.
For women's golf, the season begins in September at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate — the same event where Wake Forest swept the team and individual honors to open the 2025-26 season.
For women's soccer, Amaral has already started the season with national attention following her into the campaign.
And for football, Hernandez is entering a season in which Wake Forest will rely heavily on his ability to create explosive plays.
There is also history attached to the honors.
Wake Forest has previously produced ANNIKA Award finalists Jennifer Kupcho and Rachel Kuehn, but a Demon Deacon has yet to win the award.
The Mac Hermann Trophy has similarly provided Wake Forest with a national stage, while Hernandez's growing list of preseason honors reflects the expectations surrounding him entering his senior season.
Individually, each player has a different goal.
Collectively, however, the message is the same.
Wake Forest has talent, experience and national expectations heading into 2026-27.
The challenge now is turning preseason recognition into postseason results.
Because watch lists can identify the players to watch.
The season will determine who rises to the occasion.
