NC State Men’s Soccer Wins Opener in OT

NC State men’s soccer opened its 2015 campaign with an overtime victory, walking off 2-1 on Zach Knudson’s penalty kick against Furman in the opening game of the Nike/Aaron Olitsky Memorial Soccer Classic in Charleston, S.C. Friday evening.

The season opener bodes well for a Wolfpack team with high expectations of itself, earning a win against a Furman squad that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and returned eight of nine starters.

“I thought we managed their experience really well with a very young group,” said NC State head coach Kelly Findley. “We handled the pressure of playing our first game, and in the end got a great result.”

Knudson’s converted PK came just 33 seconds into the first overtime period, after a drive deep into Furman (0-1) territory by Yanni Hachem. A combination at the top of the box led to a hand ball, and an opportunity Knudson drove home with confidence to secure the 2-1 win.

“We kicked off, and Yanni drove into the half,” said Findley. “He beat a player, we had a combination inside, and the ball hit a defender’s hand. Knudson stepped up to score and we won the game.”

NC State (1-0) had another star in the back, Alex McCauley, preserving the result with seven saves in goal. The Pack defense cleared a pair of chances off the back line to record two team saves.

“Alex had a spectacular performance,” said Findley. “He played tremendously. Every successful team has a good, solid goalkeeper, and Alex is one of those.”

State outshot the Paladins 4-1 in the first half, and wasted no time striking early in the second. Julius Duchscherer teed up a corner kick to Cameron Steele, finishing the play with his first collegiate goal.

“It’s great to see Cam play well,” said Findley. “He started his first college game, played for 90-plus, scored a great goal, and contributed on both sides of the ball.”

NC State returns to action on Sunday at 2:30 PM to face College of Charleston. Streaming video will be provided for the match and linked on the GoPack schedule. Twitter updates will be available via @PackMensSoccer.