Duke takes down N.C. State in pivotal match

Having to beat both No. 1 Maryland and No. 6  North Carolina in Germantown, Md. at the ACC Tournament just to clinch a spot in the College Cup would be a bleak situation for any team in college soccer – unfortunately for N.C. State (7-5-0, 0-4-0) that’s exactly what the Wolfpack may have to do next month.

N.C. State lost its fourth match to open ACC play Friday night while Duke (4-5-1, 2-2-1) advanced to third in the league in points, tied with Clemson with seven. The Blue Devils’ 1-0 win over the Wolfpack snapped a two game losing streak.

Duke coach John Kerr said in a release by the school’s athletic department after the match “”[This win] is massive for us. We faced a lot of adversity last week in terms of getting ourselves out of that tough week we had.”

Sebastien Ibeagha scored his team leading fifth goal of the season for Duke to give his team a critical conference win on the road. Zach Mathers provided the assist.

For N.C. State, the loss keeps them last in the ACC standings with four losses in four games and only four more to go. When healthy, the Wolfpack are a dangerous offensive team but they haven’t been able to pull  through without Nazmi Albadawi in the lineup.

N.C. State will try once again to earn its first conference win of the season on Friday against Virginia Tech, but first the Wolfpack face Belmont on Tuesday night. Duke is off this Tuesday and will have a week of rest before hosting the top-ranked Terps on Friday.