August 18, 2019

 

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The NC State men’s soccer team began the exhibition portion of its 2019 schedule on Sunday evening with a 2-1 win at sixth-ranked North Carolina.

 

David Norris scored the first goal of the evening following a corner kick in the 52nd minute. Just two minutes later, Tyler Gabarra drew a foul inside the area and David Loera converted a penalty in the 54th minute to double the Wolfpack’s lead.

 

Santiago Herrera pulled one back for the hosts from the penalty spot in the 86th minute.

 

NC State withstood a furious UNC attack in the final moments of the match, with goalkeeper Vinnie Durand making two of his three second-half saves in the final five minutes of play.

 

“I think if you come to Carolina and win, that’s good, but we saw that we have a lot of work to do,” NC State head coach George Kiefer said. “We leave the game with everyone healthy, and we learned that Carolina is an excellent team. They exposed some good problems for us. This was a perfect night: we win, see a lot of problems, and then keep the guys hungry to keep getting better.”

 

Next up, the Wolfpack will host VCU in a free exhibition on Aug. 24 before officially opening the 2019 regular season at home against Loyola on Aug. 30.

 

#GoPack // @PackMensSoccer