The NC State men’s soccer team played well, but ended up with a tough loss to the visiting No. 6 Syracuse Orange, 2-0 under the lights of Dail Soccer Field Friday night.

Friday’s game was the ACC opener for both the Wolfpack and the Orange. NC State had its hands full, as Syracuse was ranked among the nation’s best coming into the matchup. NC State outshot the Orange 15-10, but could never capitalize on its opportunities, sending many of its strikes wide or over the crossbar.

Syracuse, a team that made it to the College Cup semifinals only a year ago, was looking to extend its unbeaten streak. The Orange left Raleigh by improving its record to 5-0-0, while NC State fell to 1-3-0 on the year.

Both of Syracuse’s goals came off of a dead ball.

A questionable referee whistle in the 15th minute led to Syracuse striker Chris Nanco converting a penalty kick to take the lead 1-0 for his team. The second goal of the game occurred on a late corner in the 73rd minute, when Syracuse defender Oyvind Alseth swung an inward curving ball that found its way into the back of the State net, untouched by either team.

Wolfpack head coach Kelly Findley said that he was not happy that his team gave up a goal on a dead ball.

“We knew that they’re good on restarts and set pieces and counterattacks, and I was frustrated that we gave one away on that,” Findley said.

NC State kept the pressure on the Orange for the entirety of the match. The Wolfpack found itself with numerous excellent opportunities to convert; however, a good percentage of the shots either sailed wide past the posts or flew above the crossbar.  Findley mentioned that he was very pleased with his team’s overall performance for the whole match.

“Our game plan was to try and get better at what we do; I thought tonight that was our best 90 minutes we’ve put together all year,” Findley said. “That was the best we’ve played against the best team we’ve seen all season.”

Syracuse’s style of play was careful and concise. It kept mistakes to a minimum across all positions and held NC State scoreless on the offensive end. However, take away the penalty kick and the corner, and NC State had the No. 6 Orange on the ropes.

Numerous Wolfpack players, including redshirt sophomore striker Ade Taiwo and junior defender Caleb Duvernay had shots that found their way into the keeper’s hands. Junior midfielder Maximilian Luftl absolutely ripped a strike from outside the box in the second half that had Syracuse goalkeeper Hendrik Hilpert diving to make the fingertip save.

Without the incredible play of Hilpert, the end result might have been drastically different for the Wolfpack.

Senior midfielder Lukas Zarges had two shots on the night. Zarges sounded optimistic and thinks that the team needed to keep its heads up.

“In the end I think everybody worked hard, worked for each other, we created chances,” Zarges said. “At parts we dominated the [opposing] team, we just have to keep working and I think the success is going to come.”

Zarges also said that he saw many instances of promise in his team on the field tonight.

“In the game there were moments when we were really positive,” Zarges said. “If we stay together, stay positive, we can achieve something this season.”

NC State will look to pick up its first home win of the year Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Elon.