November 4, 2018

 

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The NC State men’s soccer team endured a 2-0 loss at national No. 1 Wake Forest Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 ACC Men’s Soccer Championship at Spry Stadium.

 

First-half goals by Omir Fernandez and Machop Chol proved to be the difference in the contest. NC State (9-6-3) generated 11 shots and four corners but was unable to find the back of the net against a Wake Forest (17-1-0) team that extended its perfect 12-0 mark at home.

 

“I thought our approach was very detailed and good,” NC State head coach George Kiefer said. “Wake is a top team. Very quickly, you can go from feeling good about how things are going to being two goals down. That was disappointing, but I thought the response in the second half was good. Very good. We created some good chances and their goalkeeper had to make a few good saves. If we were a little more composed in front of goal, we can get it to 2-1, and then see what happens.”

 

“I was pleased with the second half, but when you are playing the best, it’s 90 minutes.”

 

Match Notes

-Wake Forest entered the contest with the No. 2 scoring offense in the nation (2.76 goals per match).

-NC State’s David Loera led all players with four total shots (three on target).

-The Wolfpack was for the second consecutive match without 2017 ACC Freshman of the Year Manny Perez, who is currently with the U.S. U20 National Team as the squad attempts to qualify for the 2019 U20 World Cup.

 

NC State generated a good scoring chance early in the match, as Ivy Brisma played a ball back to senior defender Simon Blotko, who whipped a dangerous cross into the penalty area. It was just over the head of classmate Tanner Roberts, but the defense nodded it back to freshman AJ Seals, who played it back to David Loera. The sophomore hit an accurate shot on target, but it was saved by Andreu Cases Mundet.

 

Wake Forest opened the scoring in the 13th minute when Fernandez scored his 11th goal of the season on a first-time strike from four yards out following an assist by Machop Chol. After assisting on the first goal, Chol scored the second after a restart in the 20th minute. Bruno Lapa played in a cross to Joey DeZart, who headed it down right into the path of Chol and the forward finished from within the six-yard box.

 

The Wolfpack matched the Demon Deacons shot for shot (8-8) throughout the course of the second half and generated a number of good scoring opportunities, but Wake Forest’s goalkeeper was able to make four saves to preserve his team’s advantage.

 

NC State will now await its NCAA Championship opponent and location. The 2018 field will consist of 24 automatic qualifiers and 24 at-large selections, which will be revealed on Monday, Nov. 12 at 1 pm on NCAA.com. The top 16 teams will be seeded and receive first-round byes before hosting second-round matches.

 

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