After coming off of a huge win against #1 University of North Carolina earlier in the season the NC State Men’s Soccer team was hungry for another chance at victory. Facing another Nationally ranked team on a clear Saturday night both players and fans were excited for the game. Parents, students, fans, and mascots filled the stands ready to cheer on their home team.
#21 North Carolina State refused to give up during their last home game of the season vs. #24 Syracuse. The NC State Men’s Soccer team gave the viewers a performance to remember with a hard fought game ending in a 1-1 tie. NC State played with passion against Syracuse until the final seconds. Prior to the game, seniors were recognized in front of the fans and were presented with jerseys from their parents and coaches for 4 years of dedication to the program.
Syracuse ended the game with more shots on goal ending with a total of 19 vs. the Pack’s 12. Although they had many chances to score they both only ended up connecting on one scoring drive. Early in the game Syracuse struck first with a goal against the Wolfpack. Within the first five minutes of the game the sophomore Sondre Norheim hit a header in for his fifth goal of the season. This sparked the momentum for the Syracuse players helping them hold off the Pack as long as they could.
Syracuse almost had a win in the books until sophomore Brad Sweeney was given a free shot opportunity from 19 yards out. Sweeney naild the shot into the upper right side of the goal with less than 30 seconds left in the game. After the goal benches cleared and the whole team joined Sweeney in celebration of the goal that tied it up. As the clock ran out players prepared for overtime, but in the end no more goals were scored.
With one more game left in the regular season the Wolfpack look forward to a hard week of training before taking on the Clemson Tigers Saturday October 27, at 6pm. With hopes taking down clemson and adding another win to their record NC State Men’s Soccer wants to go into the ACC Championships highly ranked. Another regular season ACC win would set them up nicely for the championship. To keep up with the rest of the season you can follow men’s soccer on Twitter and Instagram or check their website at www.gopack.com.