The NC State men’s soccer team will take on the Blue Devils at Duke Saturday, Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. After a 1-0 loss against UNC in its exhibition Sunday, the Pack hopes to gain momentum to kick off its first official conference game of the season.

With a 2-4-1 home and 1-5-2 away record history with Duke, the Pack is eager to get its first win coming into regular-season play. Duke will have a home advantage, but both teams started with a loss this weekend.

Duke fell 2-4 at the hands of Kentucky Monday in Lexington, Kentucky, despite two strong scorers on its team. The two goals for the Blue Devils were scored by senior forward Daniel Wright and graduate midfielder Jack Doran.

NC State on the other hand had its loss in the aforementioned exhibition against UNC. In the game, NC State had exactly 25% the number of shots and shots on goal compared to the Heels. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Leon Krapf had a good outing, with two saves and just one goal allowed in 76 minutes, which bodes well for the team’s opener.

NC State and Duke met twice last year, tying once in the regular season, but in the first round of the ACC tournament last November, the Pack took home a 2-1 victory, advancing into the quarterfinals. 

With a different schedule than normal, the NC State men’s soccer team will begin its 2020 season with multiple ACC schools as opposed to nonconference matchups. By facing a powerful team like Duke very early into the season, the Pack will need to be conference-ready and play nearly error free to bring home a win.

The match will start at 7 p.m. at Koskinen Stadium in Durham and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.