The Character and Care Behind a Viral Moment
Just a minute into an important game against Pitt, Wake Forest goaltender Jonah Mednard (’27) was put to the test. A handball by the Demon Deacons meant that Jonah would have to stop a penalty kick.
He did. Moments later, he stopped another shot. Then, seconds later, another. Mednard made three saves in five seconds. He jumped up and roared. His teammates surrounded him.
The clip of Jonah Mednard’s three incredible saves has more than 87 million views on Instagram. And counting.
Don’t ask Jonah what was going through his head at the moment. He doesn’t remember. He’s been a goaltender since age 8. He blacked out, he says. Instinct and the flow state took over.
During a recent conversation with Wendell Dunn, our Program’s Assistant Director of Leadership and Character in Athletics, Mednard wanted to talk about the things that you can’t see in the video. How his fellow players helped each other. How, in the seconds before, Mednard’s teammate tied his shoe, and Jonah told him: I’ve got this. How later, Jonah’s teammates refused to give up and scored the equalizing goal in the 88th minute, one that led the Demon Deacons to an important 1-1 tie. And how this celebration was forged in the adversity that his teammates faced together during summer sessions a few months earlier. “We’re doing conditioning early in the morning. We’re getting in those lifts. We’re doing pickups. We’re grinding. We’re competing,” said Mednard. “We could take those hard situations and kind of just bond over it. So when I see my striker or my winger cut in on their strong foot and bend it in the top corner, I’m celebrating like I just did that. When they see me make the triple save situation, they’re celebrating because they’ve seen all the hard work that I put in that summer, leading up to that moment.”
“Challenge builds resilience,” said Dunn. “It makes moments like that more important.”
“For sure,” Mednard replied.
Dunn and Mednard know each other well. They first met last year at Dunn’s Male Student-Athlete Retreat. It was then that Jonah had a moment that got him out of his silo. “I remember one of the first exercises we did. I’m hearing stuff about guys that really shaped them into who they are today. Like things that happened to them at 12 or 8 years old that made them say: ‘This is what I want. These are my motivators.’ There’s always something deeper,” Mednard said. “That’s one of the biggest points that I got from that retreat. Having those deep conversations is something that I think really just broadens your perspective.”
During their conversation, Dunn and Mednard also talked about leadership and what it was like to learn humility during Jonah’s recent stint as a goaltender for the Haitian national team. “Being a first-generation Haitian American and being able to represent that country is just something that I can’t really put into words,” he said. As for his Haitian teammates? “These guys are already proven. They’re already at the level that I aspire to be, and yet when you see them play, they’re playing like they’re broke.” Nobody acts like they’ve made it. Instead, they all play with a chip on their shoulder. That’s how I keep humble,” Mednard said. “Why slow down?”
Mednard, who graduates this year, knows what confidence and support mean and where they come from: A deeper understanding of the people around you. Mednard is motivated to be a role model for his younger brothers. He’s also made it a point to learn what personally motivates his peers off the field as well as on it. “Being able to know that about your teammate allows you to connect on a deeper level,” he said. “That’s how national championships are made. That’s how being ranked in the season comes together. That’s just not by coincidence. It’s the deeper work behind it.”
Watch the entire conversation here: