NC State men’s soccer drew James Madison 0-0 on Tuesday in a testing game at Dail Soccer Stadium.

The Wolfpack (6-2-2) was out matched by the Dukes (5-3-2), with James Madison recording 15 shots to the Wolfpack’s seven. The Dukes also outmatched the Pack in terms of corner kicks, with nine compared to the Wolfpack’s three.

For the second time in as many games the Wolfpack failed to register a shot during the first half. The Wolfpack’s scoring woes were also apparent in the team’s 2-2 draw against Louisville on Friday.

Head coach George Kiefer said that although the Wolfpack’s last two games have ended in the draw, each game is different and presents unique challenges.

“I don’t look at the two games collectively, each game presents different things,” Kiefer said. “Figuring out different player movements, who’s in good form, who maybe plays more, who plays less. You look at all of those things.”

James Madison tested the Wolfpack’s backline early on with James Madison’s leading goal scorer Aaron Ward-Baptiste missing a few early chances. However, it was bend but don’t break for the Wolfpack defense on the night.

Sophomore goalkeeper Leon Krapf said that it was a positive that the Wolfpack didn’t concede the game, but that play against James Madison was not up to the usual Wolfpack standards.

“We wanted a win tonight, but sometimes it doesn’t work out the way you want it to,” Krapf said. “I feel like we got a little bit fatigued today, and nobody on the team had his best game today, including myself. There’s a lot of room for improvement again for the next game, so we have to rest well now.”

The Wolfpack started off the second half well with a few key substitutions injecting energy into the team. One such substitution was redshirt senior forward Ade Taiwo, whose ability to hold the ball up and allow the players around him to get forward into dangerous positions.

Kiefer said that subbing Taiwo into the game for the second half was exactly the change needed for the Wolfpack look for an opening in goal.

“Ade did a good job,” Kiefer said. “We were searching for the nine that could hold the ball, and I think Ade came in and did that. I think the one where we played it in, I think it got lifted to him, close chance, but it’s more his hold-up play. Once you can hold the ball up, then guys can move and run off of you, and we were searching for that in the first half, but Ade did give us that in the second half.”

While the Wolfpack improved on its first-half performance, James Madison continued to dominate the game creating a lot of good scoring chances. Despite the abundance of quality chances the Dukes were unable to find the back of the net and the game headed to overtime tied at 0-0.

James Madison nearly scored to steal the three points late in the second half of overtime. Following a quick passing combination and a low cross the ball fell to Manuel Ferriol whose scuffed shot was blocked by a sliding freshman Pepe Garcia.

NC State will look to end its streak of draws with an away win over Boston College on Friday.