NC State
Radford
Men's Soccer Cruises Past Radford 5-1
10/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 2, 2002
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State men's soccer team used an offensive explosion to down visiting Radford 5-1 Wednesday afternoon at Method Road. NC State (3-6) used goals from five different players to pick up the impressive win and snap a two game losing skid.
As it appeared the two teams were heading into the half scoreless, NC State notched its first goal of the day with just 33 seconds to go in the first half. Sophomore Justin Branch got his first goal of the season when he took a pass from Hiroki Kawase and Federico Peria and put the Pack up 1-0 at the half.
The Highlanders (4-4-1) would score the first goal of the second half on a three-on-one break. Jon Fosu got credit for the goal from Mike Von Essen at the 56:21 mark.
NC State would then go on to score four goals in the next 11 minutes and put the game away. NC State's leading goal scorer Aaron King notched his fifth score of the season at the 57:50 mark. Credited with the assists on King's game-winning goals were junior Chris Gannon and goalie Mitchell Watson. King would then team with senior Michael Karim for junior Isreal Mejia's first goal of the season in the 62nd minute. Gannon would later score his first career goal when he headed in a direct kick from Peria in the 67th minute. Freshman Bryant Salter would finish off the scoring with his third goal of the year with an assist from Peria, his third of the contest, in the 69th minute.
NC State keeper Mitchell Watson was credited with four saves on the day. For Radford, both Harper Thorsen and Dan Stevens had three saves.
NC State will take on ACC rival Wake Forest this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary.
NC State 5, Radford 1 Radford 0 1 -- 1 NC State 1 4 -- 5Scoring: NC State's Branch from Kawase and Peria at 44:37 Radford's Fosu from Von Essen at 56:21 NC State's King from Gannon and Watson at 57:50 NC State's Mejia from King and Karim at 61:28 NC State's Gannon from Peria at 66:58 NC State's Salter from Peria at 68:23
Shots: Radford 15, NCSU 27 Saves: Radford 6 (Thorsen & Stevens 3), NCSU 4 (Watson 4) Corner Kicks: Radford 3, NCSU 8 Fouls: Radford 9, NCSU 12
