Wolfpack Begins 2016 Campaign Friday at JMU Invitational

August 25, 2016

Match Notes | Friday Live Stats | Sunday Video | Sunday Live Stats

RALEIGH – The NC State men's soccer team officially begins the 67th season in program history Friday afternoon at the 2016 James Madison Invitational. The Wolfpack will begin tournament play against (RV) Radford at 5 p.m. and will conclude the weekend against host JMU Sunday at 4:30 p.m.

All matches will be played at JMU's University Park.

EXHIBITION RECAP
NC State opened exhibition play at No. 21 Coastal Carolina on August 15. The Wolfpack took a 1-0 lead on a Simon Blotko goal with a Travis Wannemuehler assist, but ultimately lost the match after taking a 1-1 scoreline into the halftime break.

NC State ended exhibition play at (RV) VCU on Aug. 20. Lukas Zarges and Julius Duchscherer scored for the Wolfpack and senior Alex McCauley preserved a shutout in the win.

FOLLOW THE WOLFPACK ALL SEASON LONG
Beginning Sept. 2 at No. 8 UNC-Chapel Hill, 12 of NC State's 17 regular season matches will be broadcast live on the ACC Network Extra.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
Including both exhibition matches, the Wolfpack's 2016 schedule features nine teams ranked or receiving votes in the August 2 NSCAA Top-25 Poll. Throughout the season, NC State will play No. 3 Clemson, No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 6 Syracuse, No. 8 UNC-Chapel Hill, No. 11 Boston College, No. 21 Coastal Carolina, (RV) VCU, (RV) Radford, and (RV) Elon.

SERIES HISTORIES
-Friday's match will mark the ninth meeting between NC State and Radford. The Wolfpack holds a 5-3 advantage in the series.
-The teams last met on Oct. 6 of the 2007 season, with the Highlanders winning 2-1 in Raleigh.
-Sunday's match marks the fourth meeting between NC State and James Madison. The Wolfpack is 0-3 all-time against the Dukes.
-NC State and James Madison last met on Sept. 11 of the 1998 season. The Dukes earned a 2-0 win in Durham, N.C.

SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
-Radford posted a 14-4-2 record during the 2015 season and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Charlotte.
-The Highlanders return their leading goalscorers from last season, Sivert Daehlie (13 goals) and Finn Tiedemann (7).
-Radford is receiving eight votes in the 2016 NSCAA Preseason Top-25 poll to rank 30th in the nation.

SCOUTING THE DUKES
-James Madison posted a 5-10-4 record during the 2015 season.
-The Dukes return leading scorers Connor Coward (5) and Toby Appleton (3) from last season's team.
-Prior to playing NC State, JMU will host Lehigh on Friday evening.

#GoPack

Wolfpack Begins 2016 Campaign Friday at JMU Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Simon Blotko

Julius Duchscherer

Alex McCauley

Travis Wannemuehler

Lukas Zarges