Wolfpack Earns 3-2 Away Win at James Madison

August 28, 2016

HARRISONBURG, Va. – The NC State men's soccer team (1-1-0) picked up its first win of the 2016 season Sunday afternoon, defeating James Madison by a final score of 3-2 to conclude the JMU Invitational. Led by goals from Julius Duchscherer, Lukas Zarges, and Ade Taiwo, the Wolfpack battled back from an early deficit to come away with the victory.

The Wolfpack recorded 14 total shots in the contest, eight of which were on target. All three of NC State's goals were associated with penalties, as Duchscherer and Taiwo converted from the spot while Zarges scored on a rebound from a saved Duchscherer penalty.

Senior goalkeeper Alex McCauley made two saves in the win, earning the 15th victory of his career. Five field players (Caleb Duvernay, Aidan Wixted, Simon Blotko, Maximilian Luftl, and Jake Dykes) played the full 90 minutes while Bryant Nardizzi and Tyler Gabarra made the first appearances of their careers, seeing the field for 16 and nine minutes, respectively.

NC State fell behind early when Connor Coward got the Dukes on the board in the 10th minute with a precise header from a Billy Metzler cross. The Wolfpack would answer back in the 29th minute when Duchscherer scored his first goal of the season from the penalty spot. Stephen Elias earned the penalty.

Just five minutes later, Francesco Casucci earned a second penalty for the Wolfpack after being fouled in the box. Duchscherer stepped up to the spot and was stopped by goalkeeper Kyle Morton, but Zarges alertly followed the shot and tapped it into the open net to give the Wolfpack its first lead of the match.

Taiwo then earned and converted the Wolfpack's third penalty, scoring in the 48th minute to give NC State a 3-1 advantage. Leading up to the penalty, Duvernay whipped in a cross to the far post which Taiwo attempted to get on the end of, but he was shoved to the ground from behind.

Drew Mahoney pulled one back for James Madison (0-2-0) in the 61st minute, setting up a very intense final third of the match. The Dukes nearly equalized in the 88th minute when Aaron Ward-Baptiste snapped a header off the far post.

NC State returns to action Friday, Sept. 2 in a non-conference match at UNC-Chapel Hill. Kickoff between the Wolfpack and Tar Heels is set for 7:30 p.m. and the match will be the first of 12 NC State contests to air on the new ACC Network Extra.

#GoPack

Players Mentioned

Simon Blotko

Francesco Casucci

Julius Duchscherer

Caleb Duvernay

Jake Dykes

Stephen Elias

Tyler Gabarra

Alex McCauley

Bryant Nardizzi

Ade Taiwo

Aidan Wixted

Lukas Zarges