NC State men’s soccer will host James Madison on Tuesday in hopes to bounce back after a loss at Pittsburgh and a home tie against No. 6 Louisville.
No. 12 NC State (6-2-1, 1-2-1 ACC) is coming off a heartbreaking tie against the Cardinals. With the game tied at 1-1, junior midfielder Gabriel Machado lofted a deep shot over the goalie to take the lead with five minutes left. Machado’s goal was featured at number 9 on SportsCenter’s Top-10 plays of the day.
Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, Louisville scored in the final minute of regulation to re-tie the game at 2-2. The match would end tied after neither team scored in overtime.
James Madison (5-3-1) are coming off a 2-0 loss to UNCW in Greensboro. However, the Dukes won four straight matches before that loss, out-scoring its opponents 11-1 during that streak.
The Dukes have scored three or more goals in four of their five wins, showing a high-powered offensive attack. The Pack has only allowed three goals two times, both ending in a loss. One of those instances was against No. 1 Wake Forest and the other was in Pittsburgh against the Panthers.
NC State should have no problem containing the Dukes. With sophomore goalkeeper Leon Krapf allowing only 1.07 goals a game, the Pack offensive attack should be enough to take down James Madison.
The Pack is ranked at No. 12 in the country and have three games before huge matchups against No. 3 UNC-Chapel Hill and No. 14 UNC-Wilmington in back-to-back games.
The Pack’s first of two matches this week starts on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at Dail Soccer Stadium. It also plays on Friday in Massachusetts against Boston College.
