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September 6, 2024
Raleigh,NC– On Friday night at the Dail Soccer Complex in Raleigh, the NC State Men’s soccer team (3-0-1, 1-0) played host to the visiting California Bears (2-3, 0-1) in the ACC opener for both teams. The two teams facing each other for the first time, both sought to earn their first ACC win of the young season. The Wolfpack. who were picked preseason 11th, came in to the match as #3 in the ACC standings and entered with a modest 2-game winning streak. The streak would extend to 3 after the Wolfpack earned a hard earned 2-1 win.
The Wolfpack wasted no time scoring in the first half as they quickly would make it 1-0 within 46 seconds of opening kick. The goal was scored by Hakim Karamoko and was assisted by Liam Bennett. The Bears would strike back in the 40th minute on the goal by Nonso Dimabua. The equalizer was unassisted and gave the Bears some early momentum going into the half. The Bears ended the half with 8 total shots and 5 of those were on goal. The Wolfpack ended the half with 6 total shots and 2 on goal.
The second half was full of action as both teams came out of the locker room with offensive aggression, however the goaltending for both squads was stellar. Cal goaltender Marco Brougher was able to make 6 saves on 16 Wolfpack shots after 76 minutes of action. Logan Erb was also in control of the net for the Wolfpack as he was able to make 2 saves on 8 shots with 3 of those coming on goal in the same time frame. The Wolfpack would only have 1 other shot and they made the most of it.
NC State would break through in the 81st minute as Henrique Santos would strike one to the back of the net giving the Wolfpack a 2-1 lead. The Pack had been knocking on the door with several missed opportunities off of corner kicks and shallow crosses prior to Santos notching the game winner. Santos talked about the emotions of scoring the game-winning goal:
“It’s just the best feeling in the world. I think I speak for almost everyone on the team. We were looking for that goal and when it finally came, it was just collective happiness throughout.”
Coach Hubbard earned his first ACC win as head coach of the Wolfpack and he gave his thoughts on the win after the game:
“Yeah we’ve got some belief and again some commitment especially at home to keep pushing, putting on a show, creating as many attacking chances as possible and hopefully break one. Obviously, I think going into the first half with starting the way we did, we maybe could have had 2 or 3 more in the first half. Then giving up that late goal puts us in a bad mood at halftime. To just keep staying resilient and keep coming out and keep pressing and sticking with the plan. I’m proud of them.”
Next up for the Wolfpack is a home match with Winthrop on Tuesday at 6PM EST at Dail Soccer Complex.
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