NC State Comes Up Short to Notre Dame, 1-0, After Late Goal

Friday, September 17

South Bend, Ind.

7 PM

NC State

4-3-0, 0-2-0

Notre Dame

2-3-1, 1-0-1

NC State

Notre Dame

NC State Comes Up Short to Notre Dame, 1-0, After Late Goal

9/17/2021 9:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In what was an even matchup from the opening kick, the NC State men's soccer team (4-3-0, 0-2-0 ACC) fell 1-0 to Notre Dame (2-3-1, 1-0-1 ACC) Friday night in its first road match of the 2021 campaign.

Playing at Alumni Stadium in South Bend, Ind., the Wolfpack and the Fighting Irish were neck-and-neck in nearly every statistical category. NC State totaled nine shots on the night to Notre Dame's 10, and the Pack owned the 6-5 advantage in corners drawn during the contest.

Senior forward Kuda Muskwe led the attack for NC State with three shots. His best attempts of the night both came in a stretch of the second half that was controlled by the Wolfpack. Muskwe saw a header from a corner kick go off the crossbar in the 71st minute, and he also ripped a shot from 25 yards out that was saved by Bryan Dowd in the 79th minute.

The match was scoreless through 45 minutes of action, the first such scenario for the Wolfpack this season and its second time tied at the break. NC State earned a couple of good looks in the latter stages of the opening period. The team drew three corners and totaled four shots, three of which came in a span of about a minute.

Notre Dame came out firing early in the second half, but the Wolfpack quickly took control again. Muskwe's second-half strikes came on the front and back ends of four unanswered shots by NC State.

It was Notre Dame, however, that broke the deadlock in the 84th minute. Jamie Smith made a clean tackle just outside the box as the Fighting Irish put some pressure on, but the ball was cleared straight to Notre Dame's Daniel Russo. Russo cut it back over to the oncoming Dawson McCartney who was open for the goal.

NC State will take a week between games before returning to the pitch on Friday, Sept. 24 to host Wake Forest. The match is set for. 7 p.m. start from Dail Soccer Stadium, and live video coverage will be provided by ACCNX.

#GoPack | @PackMensSoccer