Jermaine Hudson
Redshirt junior Aidan Payne runs with the ball during the soccer match against UNC-Chapel Hill at Dail Soccer Field on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. This game broke the attendance record with over 4,000 attendees being in the stadium. NC State tied with UNC 0-0.
No. 5 NC State men’s soccer returned to its winning ways against Stetson following a scoreless draw against North Carolina.
The Wolfpack (4-0-1) started slow but finished the first half with an eventful final five minutes, claiming a two-goal lead against the Hatters (1-4-0). By the final whistle, NC State had buried Stetson 4-0.
In the 12th minute, senior goalkeeper Logan Erb came out to clear a long ball that bypassed his backline. Erb reached the ball ahead of the oncoming Stetson attacker but botched the clearance, kicking the ball sideways. A Stetson player tracked it down but couldn’t capitalize under pressure from Pack defenders.
The Pack registered its first shot on target in minute 41 when freshman left back Riley Moloney lofted a corner to the back post. Junior forward Donavan Phillip got his head on it, but the Stetson freshman goalkeeper Zander Kosmas made the save. Just a minute later, junior forward Aidan Payne received a pass from senior midfielder Justin McLean just outside the box. Under pressure, Payne controlled the ball and fired a shot from the edge of the box that flew past the goalkeeper.
“I think it was a tough first half,” Payne said. “They were kind of, you know, mucking it up a little bit in the middle, making it hard for us. So luckily, when I came on, I took one of our only chances, and that kind of opened the game up a little bit. And then [Phillip] got the second one before the half, which was really big. So it was nice to go into the half, 2-0 up after kind of a tough first half.”
In the final minute of the first half, Maloney took a deep free kick with Phillip leaping and heading it over the goalkeeper and into the net. The Pack grew a little complacent because, moments later, an NC State defender failed to clear the ball and Stetson forward Mauricio Restrepo quickly fired a powerful shot. Erb reacted with a reflex save to knock it out for a corner, curbing the threat.
The Pack carried their momentum from the final five minutes into the second half. In the 51st minute, Payne won a penalty and the captain, junior midfielder Caden Toletino, stepped up to take it. The Stetson goalkeeper saved his powerful strike, but Toletino reacted quickly and buried the rebound into the back of the net.
McLean added a fourth and final goal with a spectacular long-distance strike following a set piece in the 64th minute, and the Wolfpack saw out the win, keeping their fifth consecutive clean sheet to start the season.
Senior midfielder Taig Healy, who had started every game up to this point, missed the match with an undisclosed injury. Head coach Mark Hubbard made second-half changes to preserve the fitness of key players.
“We were able to get a couple there before half and settle us down, and then be in a position where we could rest some guys,” Hubbard said. “So I think that’s something we talked about throughout the week as well. With four games in 10 days coming up, how important it is to buy rest for guys and keep guys healthy over that stretch. And I think we were able to do that tonight, which is really nice.”
The Pack will host No. 19 Florida Atlantic University (4-1) Saturday at 6 p.m.