NC State drops home match to No. 6 Wake Forest

RALEIGH, NC – NC State Men's Soccer fell to No. 6 Wake Forest on Friday night, with the Demon Deacons claiming a 3-0 victory in front of the Pack's Dail Stadium home crowd.

"You look at Wake Forest, it's 10 seniors, it's an experienced group," NC State head coach George Kiefer said. "When you turn it over they can keep it for long stretches. We just have to be able to connect more passes. Wake did a good job making it really difficult for us."

Coach Kiefer speaks with the media after the Wake Forest contest. pic.twitter.com/BIoeYgmYbw
— NC State Men's Soccer (@PackMensSoccer) October 7, 2023

Wake Forest led off the contest with a pair of goals in the first half, breaking the ice with a right-footer from Cooper Flax in the 23rd minute, then doubling their lead in the 29th with a netter from Hosei Kijima.

Wake Forest (8-1-3) added its final goal of the evening in the 79th minute, with Julian Kennedy giving the Demon Deacons a late 3-0 advantage.

Wake Forest had a 21-6 shot margin over NC State (6-6-0).

"Obviously, they are a very good team," Pack senior defender Kendall Edwards said. "They are always going to keep the ball, have good possessions with the ball."

It was the second straight home loss for the Pack after starting the season 6-0 at Dail Soccer Stadium. It was also the second consecutive loss to a ranked opponent.

"You can't let losing to two top teams in the country dig you down," Kiefer said. "You have the next day to just get back at it. It's a great challenge for us right now to teach them how to deal with adversity."

Up next: NC State is back home Tuesday night, hosting American at 7 pm.

#GoPack | @PackMensSoccer

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Team Stats

Will Buete

Ervin Cruz

Luke Hille

Henrique Santos

Players Mentioned

Kendall Edwards