The men’s soccer team opened the 2010 regular season when it traveled to Durham for the Duke/Nike Classic over the weekend. State split its first two games of the season in a pair of overtime thrillers, a win over Sacramento State Friday and a narrow loss to No. 20 Louisville Sunday.

In Friday’s regular season opener, the Wolfpack and Sacramento State were tied at three goals apiece after 90 minutes. The Pack struck first on a goal by sophomore Michael Smith in the eighth minute. Sacramento State tied it up five minutes later, and the scoreboard read 1-1 at the half.

The Hornets opened the second half scoring less than two minutes after halftime, but senior Chris Zuerner assisted Akil DeFreitas on the fellow senior’s first goal of 2010 to tie the game once again, this time at 2-2. State took a 3-2 lead on a goal by senior Tyler Lassiter in the 79th minute, but overtime was forced with less than four minutes remaining on a goal by the Hornets’ Chris Bettencourt.

In the first overtime, neither team scored, forcing a second overtime. Early in overtime No. 2, Zuerner passed to DeFreitas, who set up Smith for the win and the sophomore’s second goal of the afternoon. Sunday’s showdown against No. 20 Louisville saw the Pack force overtime for the second time in as many games. But unlike Friday, when coach George Tarantini and Co. pulled out a high-scoring victory, State ended up on the wrong end of a low-scoring affair Sunday, falling 2-1 in overtime to the Cardinals.

Louisville opened the scoring on a header in the 19th minute for the only goal of the first half. Just a minute after the break, State tied the game on a cross from freshman Mamadou Kansaye to Alan Reiter. Reiter’s goal was the last score of regulation, and the Cardinals handed the Wolfpack its first loss with a sudden-death game-winner less than three minutes into overtime.