NC State men's soccer concluded its historic season when it fell to 13th-seeded Marshall by a 1-2 score in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday afternoon.
In the program's first Sweet Sixteen appearance in 30 years, the squad was tasked with facing the No. 13 seed, Marshall, on the road.
The Herd took to the scoreboard quickly in the 9th minute of the game when their forward, Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, intercepted a square ball from the Wolfpack's defensive line, leading to a non-contested shot on goal that found the back of the net.
Shortly after,
Isaac Heffess nearly secured the equalizer when his header, off of a corner-kick, forced Marshall's goalkeeper to make quick diving save.
Marshall's Rodrigues dos Santos took the scoreboard yet again in the 37th minute to give his team a 2-0 lead with more than half of the game to go.
In the 77th minute,
Vusumzi Plamana headed the ball in to cut their trail to 2-1 and give spark to his teammates. Ultimately, NC State was unable to find anymore scoring opportunities to force overtime or a victory.
When reflecting on the season after the game, head coach
Marc Hubbard stated, "We've got to take advantage of the momentum we have created within the program. I'm proud of the group for what we did. It was a long process starting back in January and then we worked really hard in the spring. This is the type of group that just kept getting better the more they played with one another. The hope is that the values and habits that we created every day will continue to seep into the returners and the messaging and the legacy and the story of the guys leaving will seep into the newcomers. I am definitely proud of what we accomplished and there is a lot to look forward to in Raleigh."
In its first year with
Marc Hubbard at the helm, the program had its best start to a season since 1992, and best conclusion of a season since 1994. The team finished with 10 wins, which marks the first double-digit win season since 2018.
https://gopack.com/news/2024/11/30/mens-soccer-wolfpack-falls-to-marshall-in-third-round-of-ncaas