NC State
#1 Wake Forest
NC State Set for Saturday Road Match at Top-Ranked Wake Forest
10/2/2020 8:56:00 AM | Men's Soccer
MATCH NOTES | LIVE STATS | WATCH LIVE
RALEIGH – The Wolfpack (0-1-0) will continue its season-opening road stint this weekend as it visits No. 1 Wake Forest (1-0-0) on Saturday evening. Kickoff from Spry Stadium in Winston Salem, N.C., is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live video coverage provided by ACCNX.
A WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD...
• Be the 529th win in program history (528-456-98)
• Be the 190th win in head coach George Kiefer's career (189-107-61)
• Be Kiefer's 28th victory at NC State (27-21-10)
• Be Kiefer's ninth ACC win with the Pack (8-12-5)
• Be NC State's seventh win over a ranked foe since the start of the 2017 campaign (6-11-3)
TRACKING THE PACK (0-1-0)
• The Wolfpack was selected to finish fourth in the competitive South Region, as voted on by the league's head coaches in the 2020 ACC Preseason Poll.
• NC State returns eight starters from 2019 and welcomes a group of newcomers that includes four freshmen and three transfers.
• Four multi-goal scorers from last year are back with the squad - Kuda Muskwe (5), Pepe Garcia (3), Pablo Pedregosa (2) and Jamie Smith (2).
• The team also returns six players - George Asomani, Ivy Brisma, Jose Morales Jr., Muskwe, Pedgregosa, Smith - who earned at least 17 out of a possible 19 starts apiece during the 2019 campaign.
LAST TIME OUT
• NC State endured a 1-0 double overtime defeat to Duke in its season opener on Sept. 26. The teams battled through 109:26 of scoreless action before the Blue Devils notched the game winner.
• In that match, the Wolfpack held the 9-6 advantage in shots, with one of its attempts on target.
SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS (1-0-0)
• Wake Forest was picked to finish second behind Clemson in the South Region. The Demon Deacons received four votes for overall champion.
• The team finished the 2019 season with a 16-5-2 overall record, placed third in the conference and reached the NCAA College Cup for the sixth time in the last 15 years.
• The Demon Deacons return three of their top four scorers from 2019 and welcome a rookie class that was ranked seventh nationally by TopDrawerSoccer.
• Wake Forest opened its campaign with a non-conference meeting against Louisville last Friday night.The Demon Deacons won that matchup by a 3-1 final score after taking a 2-0 lead into halftime.
SERIES HISTORY (NC State trails 12-29-5)
• Saturday marks the 47th meeting between NC State and Wake Forest. The teams have played each other at least once every season since the 1979 campaign.
• Wake Forest has remained unbeaten (13-0-3) in the last 15 meetings with the Wolfpack. NC State's last win over the Demon Deacons was a 2-1 victory in Raleigh on Oct. 30, 2005.
• The Pack's last tie (0-0 draw) against Wake Forest came in Raleigh on Oct. 9, 2015.
• NC State most recently faced Wake Forest during the 2019 regular season, with the Pack falling to the then sixth-ranked Demon Deacons by a 3-1 tally.
RANKED OPPONENT RECORD
NC State has picked up six victories over ranked opponents in three completed seasons of the Kiefer era. Four of those six wins were against top-five foes.
2017-19 seasons: 6-11-3 (.375)
2009-16 seasons: 7-30-7 (.238)
The last time the Wolfpack defeated the nation's top-ranked team was during the 2018 regular season. That year, NC State toppled No. 1 North Carolina by a 1-0 score inside Dail Soccer Stadium.
UP NEXT
The Pack will play its home opener on Friday, Oct. 9 as it faces off against Duke for the second time in 2020. That match is slated for an 8 p.m. kickoff and will be televised nationally by the ACC Network.
#GoPack | @PackMensSoccer
