Just because it was the first exhibition of the 2023 season didn’t mean NC State men’s soccer went easy on South Carolina at Dail Soccer Stadium.

In fact, the Wolfpack emptied the tank against the Gamecocks, showing a tough and physical style of play on its way to a 5-1 victory over its opponents.

With over a dozen new players in its 2023 signing class, NC State has room to improve before its season-opener on Aug. 25. However, the Wolfpack showed its hard-nosed nature from the first whistle against the Gamecocks.

Sophomore midfielder Calem Tommy started the scoring after striking a low, driven shot from the top of the box into the bottom left corner of the net in the 21st minute. Just after, Duke transfer and graduate forward Scotty Taylor doubled the red-and-white’s lead after slotting in a goal on the near post.

NC State was attacking from all sides. More importantly, though, the Wolfpack was committed to making every effort to tackle, create turnovers, and fight for each and every possession, something that head coach, George Kiefer, is expecting from his squad.

“If you look at the toughness of the group — guys sliding to stuff, guys recovering from stuff, guys helping each other, guys [competing] when there’s 50-50 balls,” Kiefer said. “That’s really what we’re aspiring for. It’s that sort of stuff that we really want to point out to them because they were real gritty tonight.”

After the half, South Carolina seemed poised to get back in the match with a 54th minute goal. But not long after, NC State turned on burners, scoring three more by the final whistle.

Freshman forward Hakim Karamoko made another gritty play on his first goal in the red-and-white. After a bounding ball in the box reached his area, Karamoko found a way to put it past the keeper, giving NC State more breathing room on the scoreboard.

Sophomore midfielder Drew Lovelace widened the gap further with an 85th minute penalty kick score. However, Lovelace got his chance thanks to a physical play in the box by yet another newcomer, freshman forward Ervin Cruz.

“When we recruited, it was a fiber we were looking for [in players],” Kiefer said. “You look at Ervin on that goal, a play to create a PK and just [showed] that blue collar mentality. So, sometimes new plays don’t have that in them, and I was really pleased with them to adapt so quickly with what we’re looking for.”

While the impact of the Wolfpack’s newcomers was palpable all night, it was second-year Lovelace who dug the knife one goal deeper just minutes after his first goal. After a near-perfect through ball from Karamoko, Lovelace had an easy one-on-one with the keeper, coolly making a move around him to lay in the second half of his brace.

NC State has two more exhibitions to experiment with tactics, but the physical, gritty play from the red-and-white had Kiefer, and all fans in attendance, hopeful of a return to how the Wolfpack wants to play soccer.

“The main, main thing is that we get back to who NC State is,” Kiefer said. “It’s just the toughness, the grittiness, the blue collar mentality that wins at NC State. Some of the goals were tough, winning it and [going] forward fast in transition, that needs to be a staple for us.”

That iconic blue-collar mentality is a defining trait of NC State as a whole, and if repeated in upcoming matches, it could soon be a defining trait of NC State men’s soccer.

The red-and-white’s next test comes on Wednesday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. when the Pack takes on Campbell at Dail Soccer Stadium.