North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Travels to UNC This Weekend
10/21/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 21, 2004
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State men's soccer team will travel to arch rival North Carolina for an important ACC battle Sunday afternoon at UNC's Fetzer Field at 2:00 p.m. Both squads are on a roll putting together a string of victories, and each is jockeying for a higher seed in next month's ACC Tournament. The Wolfpack (6-5-1, 1-3-1 ACC) has won two straight, including knocking off No. 6 Duke last weekend, 1-0. The Tar Heels (6-6-2, 2-2 ACC) have won three straight, including a home win over No. 7 South Carolina.
NC State has shut out two straight opponents, beating Stony Brook, 4-0, on Wednesday and then downing No. 6 Duke, 1-0, last weekend at Method Road. The Pack will be looking for its second three-game winning streak of the season, and looking to win back-to-back games in conference play.
Junior Aaron King helped lead the Pack to victory over Duke by scoring the game's lone goal with less then two minutes to play. For his efforts during the week, which included a two-goal effort against Stony Brook, King was named the ACC Player of the Week. King also earned a spot on the national teams of the week for both Soccer America and College Soccer News. King leads NC State with seven goals, and is tied with fellow junior Federico Peria (three goals, 8 assists) with 14 points on the season. Junior Jorge Gonzalez returned to man the nets for NC State, and recorded his third shutout of the season against the Blue Devils.
Last season NC State and North Carolina battled in two of the most exciting games of the ACC season. Both games were registered as ties, but in the second contest the Wolfpack advanced past the Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament.
In the first meeting, North Carolina came into Method Road ranked No. 3 nationally, and the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie. NC State's Chris Gannon scored in the 58th minute, while UNC's Jamie Watson notched the equalizer in the 70th minute. The physical contest featured 50 combined fouls, six yellow cards and two red cards.
The two squads battled once again in the 2003 ACC Tournament, as the Wolfpack would go onto advance past the No. 8 Tar Heels on penalty kicks. In the quarterfinals, the two teams would battle to a scoreless tie after 110 minutes of action, then the game went to PKs. NC State's first shot rung off the post, which helped give UNC a 2-1 lead after two rounds. After the Pack scored in back-to-back rounds, it was keeper Jorge Gonzalez that came up big stopping a shot in the third round to make it 2-2. The two teams exchanged goals in the fourth, then NC State's Bryant Salter gave NC State the lead with his PK, making it 4-3 NCSU. Gonzalez then came up with his second saved PK of the day, and enabled the Wolfpack to advance in the ACC Tournament.
The Tar Heels are currently on a season-best three-match winning streak after coming home with a victory at Virginia Tech Wednesday night, 2-1. Marcus Storey leads the offense with his five goals and 16 points on the year, while Ford Williams has won the starting spot in goal.
