Wolfpack Visits #10 Duke for Saturday Exhibition Match

August 17, 2018

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RALEIGH – The NC State men's soccer team concludes the exhibition portion of its season on Saturday evening when it visits No. 10 Duke. Kickoff between the Wolfpack and Blue Devils is scheduled for 7 pm from Koskinen Stadium in Durham. Admission is free for all fans.

NC State will officially open the 2018 regular season at home against USC Upstate on Friday, August 24.

UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
On the eve of the 2018 season, NC State has six opponents ranked within the national top 11 of the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll. The Wolfpack will take on No. 3 UNC-Chapel Hill, No. 4 Akron, No. 5 Wake Forest, No. 6 Louisville, No. 10 Duke (exhibition), and No. 11 Clemson during the season. NC State defeated two top-five foes last season, defeating then-No. 3 Clemson 1-0 on Sept. 8 and winning at then-No. 5 Louisville 3-2 on Oct. 21.

WATCH EVERY HOME MATCH
All 10 of NC State's home matches this season will be broadcast either online or on television. Nine matches will be carried on ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN) and the Sept. 21 match against Virginia Tech will be shown on Fox Sports South and a collection of additional regional networks around the country.

YOUNG BUT EXPERIENCED
Though NC State fields a young roster for the 2018 season, the Wolfpack returns nine players who started at least eight of the team's 18 matches last year. Five players (Leon Krapf, David Loera, David Norris, Simon Blotko, and Christoph Schneuwly) started every match in 2017.

KIEFER'S NCAA STREAK
Second-year head coach George Kiefer has now qualified for 11 NCAA Championships as a head coach (10 at USF). Including his time with the Bulls and the 2017 season with the Wolfpack, he has led his teams to the postseason in 10 of the last 11 years.

AMONG THE TOP ASSISTANTS
Associate head coach Jeff Negalha this summer was named among the top assistant coaches in the nation by College Soccer News. Negalha helped lead the 2017 Wolfpack to an NCAA Tournament appearance and has played a large role in securing two national top-13 recruiting classes in 2017 and 2018.

NOTABLE ACC RECORD
In Kiefer's first season in Raleigh, the Wolfpack finished the ACC schedule with a 3-3-2 record and tied for seventh place in the league standings with Notre Dame to achieve the program's best finish since 2009.

ACC PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
NC State was selected to finish fourth in the ACC Atlantic Division and eighth of 12 teams overall according to a preseason vote of the league's head coaches.

Wake Forest was predicted to win the Atlantic Division and UNC-Chapel Hill was predicted to win the overall conference title.

Last season, the Wolfpack tied for seventh in the league standings despite a preseason prediction of 11th.

#GoPack | @PackMensSoccer

Wolfpack Visits #10 Duke for Saturday Exhibition Match

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Players Mentioned

Simon Blotko

Leon Krapf

David Loera

David Norris

Christoph Schneuwly