Durham, N.C. – The NC State men’s soccer team earned a hard-fought draw with No. 12 St. Louis, 1-1, Friday night in the first game of the Duke/adidas Classic in Durham, N.C. After a scoreless first half, the Wolfpack (2-0-1) struck first in the 53rd, but the Billikens (0-0-2) answered with their own goal in the 70th minute. After 20 more minutes of regulation, and an extra 20 minutes of overtime, neither team found the back of the net as the teams tied 1-1.
After the two teams played the first 45 minutes to a scoreless tie, the Pack struck first in the 53rd minute of action. Senior El Hadj Cisse won a ball in the midfield, and played a long through ball to sophomore Jorge Mora on the left wing. Mora dribbled into the box, and fired a shot onto the goal, only to have keeper Pat Disbennett punch the ball wide. But the deflection came right to sophomore Daniel Fish, who deposited the shot into the net for his first goal of the season at the 52:41 mark.
St. Louis would get the equalizer in the 70th minute. Rob Viviano lofted a ball from the left sideline into the NC State box, and Kyle Patterson headed the ball into the top right corner of the net at the 69:03 mark to even the score.
NC State almost pulled out the win in regulation, as sophomore Alan Sanchez found himself one-on-one with the Billikens’ back-up keeper Ross Kaufman with four minutes left. But Kaufman was able to punch the shot wide.
Both teams ended the regulation 90 minutes with a goal apiece, and the action for the Pack offense picked up in the overtime period. Kaufman made two more diving saves on Wolfpack shot attempts in extra time, his best was when Sanchez took a free kick about 30 yards out that was headed for the gamewinner with three minutes left.
NC State’s Christopher Widman set a new career-high with 11 saves on the day.
NC State returns to action this Sunday, as the Pack takes on Villanova in its second game of the Duke/adidas Classic.
| NC State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -- | 1 |
| St.Louis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -- | 1 |
Scoring: NCSU-Fish unassisted at 52:41
SLU-Patterson from Viviano at 69:03
Shots: NCSU 15, SLU 25
Saves: NCSU 11 (Widman 11), SLU 7 (Kaufman 6)
Corner Kicks: NCSU 4, SLU 7
Fouls: NCSU 18, SLU 16
Records: NCSU 2-0-1, SLU 0-0-2
Courtesy: NC State
