NC State Continues Home Stretch with Non-Conference Match Against Navy

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RALEIGH – The NC State men's soccer team (0-3-0) will briefly step away from conference play as it welcomes Navy (0-0-0) to Raleigh on Sunday evening. Kickoff from Dail Soccer Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live video coverage provided by ACCNX.

Due to health and safety recommendations and current state guidelines, attendance at NC State men's soccer home competitions is limited to the families of Wolfpack student-athletes and coaching staffs until further notice.

A WIN ON SUNDAY WOULD...
• Be the 529th win in program history (528-458-98)
• Be the 190th win in head coach George Kiefer's career (189-109-61)
• Be Kiefer's 28th victory at NC State (27-23-10)

TRACKING THE PACK (0-3-0)
• A total of 17 players have made appearances for NC State, with four of those marking Wolfpack debuts. Five players have been named starters for the first time in their NC State careers this season.
• Ivy Brisma and Alex Bautista are the two members of the Pack who have found the back of the net this season.
• The Wolfpack's 23 shot attempts have been distributed among 12 players, led by a team-leading five strikes (two on target) from freshman midfielder Tal Segev.
• Junior striker Kuda Muskwe made his season debut in the Pack's last outing. He registered one shot in 34 minutes of action.

LAST TIME OUT
• NC State fell to Duke by a 3-1 score in its home opener on Friday, Oct. 9. It marked the first time since 2016 that the Pack has lost its first home game of the season.
• The teams went scoreless in the opening period, with NC State goalkeeper Leon Krapf making a pair of critical saves to keep things knotted at zero.
• Duke took a two-goal lead with scores in the 60th and 68th minutes. NC State's Ivy Brisma managed to bring the squad within one in the 70th minute, but Duke added cushion in the 87th minute for the final result.
• All three of the Blue Devils' goals were generated off of set pieces.

SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN
• Sunday marks Navy's first match of the regular season. The team faced then-No. 3 Virginia during the exhibition portion of its campaign and scored three unanswered goals to beat the Cavaliers 3-2.
• Navy is coming off of a 12-4-1 record in 2019, which began with 11-straight wins.
• Nine starters are back with the Midshipmen in 2020, including reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year Matt Nocita and leading scorer Jacob Williams.

SERIES HISTORY (NC State leads 3-1-1)
• Sunday marks the sixth overall meeting between NC State and Navy and the first matchup between the teams since 2010.
• Navy won the first meeting in 1955, and the Wolfpack has not dropped a decision to the Midshipmen in any matchups since.
• The teams last faced each other on Oct. 26, 2010, with NC State coming away with a 2-1 victory on its home turf.

LOADED BACK LINE
NC State brings an extremely experienced defensive backline to the table during the 2020 campaign. Pepe Garcia (2692 minutes, 40 starts), David Norris (4862 minutes, 56 starts), Pablo Pedregosa (1898 minutes, 21 starts) and Jamie Smith (1859 minutes, 22 starts) have combined for 11,581 minutes played and 139 starts across their respective careers.

Norris returned to the lineup in the Wolfpack's Oct. 9 match against Duke after missing the latter half of the 2019 season and the beginning of 2020. He has been a part of 19 shutouts in his 56 career starts.

STACKED SCHEDULE
With the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wolfpack's schedule is conference-heavy and filled with matchups against some of the nation's best. Its match against Navy is the only non-conference competition of the fall season.

Three out of NC State's seven matches are against top-five opponents and teams that finished ranked in the top 10 of the 2019 NCAA RPI.

UP NEXT
NC State will close out its three-game home stretch on Friday, Oct. 23 as it hosts Clemson. Kickoff between the Wolfpack and the Tigers is set for 8 p.m., and the match will be televised nationally on the ACC Network.

The Pack is hosting a Virtual Sellout for that match. Fans may purchase tickets here for access to a virtual watch party, a virtual chalk talk, digital training videos and more.

#GoPack | @PackMensSoccer

NC State Continues Home Stretch with Non-Conference Match Against Navy

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Players Mentioned

Alex Bautista

Ivy Brisma

Pepe Garcia

Leon Krapf

Kuda Muskwe

David Norris

Pablo Pedregosa

Tal Segev

Jamie Smith