It’s been a dream start to the 2018 season for the NC State men’s soccer team, as the Wolfpack picked up a signature 2-0 win at No. 4 Akron Monday night.
The Pack (2-0-0) tallied both goals in the first half, both from newcomers, to topple a Zips (0-1-1) team that made a run all the way to the College Cup last season. For NC State, the win Monday marked the third win against a top-five opponent in just six games under head coach George Kiefer.
NC State started strong, getting a 14th-minute goal from junior transfer forward Gabriel Machado. The Pack doubled its lead later in the first half, as freshman midfielder Aidan Foster connected to make it 2-0.
With the two-goal win, the Pack accomplished something not many teams did last year; beating Akron by multiple goals. The Zips lost just one game by more than one goal in 2017, a 2-0 defeat to eventual national champion Stanford in the NCAA Tournament semifinal.
Machado strongly finished for the opening goal after getting a somewhat lucky bounce to set up the opportunity. Shortly after a throw-in for the Pack, freshman forward Ivy Brisma crossed a ball into the box that was deflected by a Zips defender.
The deflection fell right to the foot of Machado, who struck the ball clean and hard towards the net. Akron goalkeeper Ben Lundt got a hand to the ball, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Pack from opening the scoring and Machado, who tallied 16 goals for Monroe College last year, from scoring his first DI goal.
Foster tallied his first-career goal in the 37th-minute to double the Pack’s lead, scoring off an assist from sophomore forward Manny Perez. Perez centered the ball in the box to Foster, who took a great first touch to open himself up and set up a left-footed strike that found the back of the net.
The Wolfpack finished strong when it had its scoring opportunities, scoring its two goals on just three shots. The Zips tallied nine shots in the game, but had just one on target.
NC State will return home to continue on its strong start Friday night, as it hosts Presbyterian in Dail Soccer Stadium in Raleigh.
