The NC State men’s soccer team took down Elon 3-2 on Tuesday night following a flurry of goals early in the second half.
The Wolfpack (8-3-3) deserved the win on the day, outshooting the Phoenix (6-8-1) 17-10. While the stats were in the Pack’s favor, the match saw a closely contested affair throughout.
“I give Elon credit,” said NC State head coach George Kiefer. “You look early on, they had a few guys out so they’re a healthy group now. They’re a good side, very tough team.”
While the first half ended without either team finding the back of the net, the second half was full of goals from the opening minutes. Elon quickly jumped out to a two-goal lead in the opening five minutes of the half through Jeppe Jordonson and Sam Bacon, the latter of which scored directly from a corner.
The lead did not last long, however, as senior midfielder Gabriel Machado put the Pack back within one less than a minute later. Just six minutes after Machado’s goal, sophomore defender Pepe Garcia erased the lead fully after knocking in a cross at the far post.
“Yeah, that’s what I said to the guys,” Kiefer said. “Down 2-0, two mistakes. They didn’t get rattled and then to come away with a win down to zero, just, good job.”
Both of the Wolfpack goals were fantastic. The first saw Machado score a freekick from distance and the second saw sophomore midfielder Ivy Brisma beat his man and chip it into junior midfielder David Loera. Loera then played a perfect cross to the far post where Garcia headed it home.
The Wolfpack completed its stellar comeback in the 68th minute with sophomore forward Kuda Muskwe getting on the end of a senior midfielder Tyler Gabarra free kick and flicking it over the onrushing Elon keeper.
“It was just something we’ve just been working on in practice again,” Muskwe said. “Cross coming in from Tyler and Pepe picked me, so he just blocked my man out, and just got the space and seen the keeper off his line. Just a good finish.”
The Wolfpack’s position strengthened even more shortly after Muskwe’s goal as Elon’s Jordonson was shown a second yellow in the 72nd minute and the Phoenix was forced to play with 10 men for the rest of the match.
Early in the second half, an injury to senior center back David Norris saw sophomore midfielder Aidan Foster drop into the backline. While the position is not one he has played for the Pack on a regular basis, he spent the summer playing the position for NCFC U23s in USL League 2. Foster would remain in the backline for the remainder of the match.
“I thought he did a good job,” Kiefer said. “Pablo [Pedregosa] had to come off as well so we could have went to Pablo, but it was safer that we didn’t, and to trust Aidan was good. Aidan did a very good job back there. It’s good that we’ve rotated guys all year so you know it’s not like we’re throwing guys in for the first time.”
NC State will travel to Syracuse to take on the Orange Saturday, Oct. 26 for its final road game and second-to-last game of the regular season.
“The college soccer season is so fast,” Kiefer said. “To think that we just have two regular season games left is baffling. But, you know, we’ll just focus on rest recovery. You can’t train. No time to train before Syracuse so it’s just about, you know, rest, rehab, NormaTec, stretch, train the other group to make sure they stay as fit so they’re ready when their name gets called and then just go prepare for Syracuse.”
