#4 NC State Loses 1st Match of Season to #1 Wake Forest

The #4 NC State Men’s Soccer (4-1) team lost their first match of the season on Friday night to the #1 team in the country, Wake Forest (5-0). The Demon Deacons shutout the Wolfpack in Winston-Salem 3-0.

The Wolfpack was without Sophomore sensation Manny Perez, because he has been called up by U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team.

The Demon Deacons only held a 1-0 lead at the half, but they had 5 shots in the half, whereas the Wolfpack had none. Omir Fernandez scored Wake’s only goal in the first half, and he would score their second as well. An own goal unfortunately gave the Deacs their third and final goal, on a deflection on a free kick.

Overall, it was a dominating performance from Wake Forest. They outshot NC State 13 to 4, and had 7 shots on goal, compared to only 1 from the Wolfpack.

“You know that when you come to play Wake Forest on the road you are going to have your hands full,” NC State head coach George Kiefer said after the match. “They are an efficient team and I give them credit. They did a good job with the match tonight. I think we have some guys that I was very pleased with, but then some guys that I think will maybe have a better match next time.” (GP)

Sophomore goal keeper Leon Krapf had 4 saves in the match.

“This result is tough, no question,” starting goalkeeper Leon Krapf said. “I think what is key now is that we don’t question everything. We need to stay positive, learn from it, and move on. We are trying to get this program to the standard we saw tonight. We want to get there, and on the way there, there will be obstacles. This was an obstacle, and we have to overcome it. The great thing about college soccer is that our next chance is coming up on Tuesday. We will analyze the game and learn from it, and on Tuesday we will be locked in and keep pushing this program forward.” (GP)

NC State will host Quinnipiac on Tuesday night at 7pm in their next match.