It doesn’t matter where, it doesn’t matter when and it doesn’t matter the sport: NC State vs. UNC is always entertaining.
A heated 2-2 draw between NC State and UNC’s men’s soccer provided the entertainment on Friday, Oct. 14. In a tough season so far for the Wolfpack (4-5-3, 1-4-1 ACC), the red-and-white played an impressive game against the Tar Heels (6-3-3, 2-2-2 ACC), with graduate midfielder Conor Kelly leading the way.
Kelly worked his magic once more, scoring and assisting on both of NC State’s goals via free kicks. The Pack’s standout attacker this season started the night’s scoring with a first-class free kick he rocketed past Carolina’s keeper, promptly making Dail Soccer Field erupt.
“It was a big wall — I wanted to go around it, honestly,” Kelly said. “The keeper didn’t really give me much of a choice, so I was like, ‘Alright, I gotta get it over and hope it gets down.’”
Kelly certainly fed the energy of the electric environment with his goal, but he wasn’t done quite yet. After UNC tied it up at 1-1, he helped put the Pack up again by assisting senior defender Pablo Pedregosa on his first goal of the season with another highlight-reel play.
“It’s a long time coming with him,” Kelly said. “It’s always just a little off, and we were saying ‘tonight’s the night he’s gonna get a goal.’ I was really happy — his senior year, home against UNC — it was nice for him to get on the scoresheet.”
As Kelly continues to add to his already impressive resume of skills, experiences and goals, it’s clear that he’s playing a crucial role on and off the field for NC State this season.
“I trust Conor — it’s a really young group, but he brings in a lot of experience,” said head coach George Kiefer. “He helps with that, and I definitely trust him in big moments.”
With Pedrogosa’s 40th-minute goal, the Wolfpack entered halftime with a 2-1 lead. However, UNC went blow-for-blow with its Tobacco Road rivals, scoring another equalizer in the 64th minute with a point-blank goal.
Tied at 2-2, both teams desperately looked for the go-ahead score, and while both had chances, neither could net the winner.
Multiple opportunities engineered by sophomore forward Luke Hille looked promising as he made sure to put pressure on the Heels in the attacking third down the stretch. However, Carolina’s keeper made sure to deny the Wolfpack with clutch saves more than a few times in the final 15 minutes.
Despite the 2-2 draw, NC State played a hard-fought match, competing down to the final whistle with a talented and decorated UNC squad.
“I think we have a lot to be proud of,” Kelly said. “Pretty frustrating not to come away with a win, but a good position to be frustrated after a UNC game. The fact that we were up twice, a lot of positives to take away from it.”
With just three matches left in the season, the Pack will look to finish out its season in strong fashion against more tough opponents. With a focus on a consistent level of improvement, Kiefer and the rest of the squad are focusing on playing at their top level for a greater amount of time.
“Just continue with the process,” Kiefer said. “There’s probably 60 minutes in this match where I’ll say, ‘man, that was really, really good.’ So how do we get that to 65, and then 70? When we can get it to 75 or 80, you can play with anybody in the country.”
After the entertaining and heated match against the Tar Heels, the red-and-white will play one of its final home games of the season against William & Mary.
Kickoff against the Tribe is set for Tuesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
