Blue Devils Drop Hard-Fought Game to NC State, 2-1

Wednesday, November 6

Raleigh, NC

2:00 PM

Duke University

7-9-2

NC State

9-5-3

Duke

North Carolina State

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Drop Hard-Fought Game to NC State, 2-1

11/6/2019 5:52:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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Daniele Proch Netted His 12th Goal of 2019

RALEIGH, N.C.—North Carolina State grabbed an early 2-0 lead and miraculously held off a fiery second-half Duke performance to earn a 2-1 victory in the 2019 ACC Men's Soccer Championship First Round at Dail Soccer Stadium Wednesday. Daniele Proch scored the goal for the Blue Devils.

The fifth-seeded Wolfpack improve to 9-5-3 overall, while Duke concludes its 2019 campaign with a 7-9-2 overall record. The Blue Devils have nine seniors, whom they honored last week in the final regular season game against Virginia Tech. NC State advances to play at Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals Sunday.

"I feel terrible for the seniors," said head coach John Kerr. "It's not a great way to go out, but they've given a lot to this program and made massive contributions and am very appreciative of that. They dug deep and they gave a great effort in the second half."

NC State grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the sixth minute as Pepe Garcia finished a cross from Gabriel Machado on the right wing. The Wolfpack added another tally in the 23rd minute, finding the open space behind Duke's defense and feeding Kuda Muskwe for a one-on-one with Duke goalie Will Pulisic.

"I thought our effort in the second half was great," said head coach John Kerr. "We just cannot seem to get that important goal. We got that one goal to get back in the game and if get that second goal to tie it up, just like against [North] Carolina, we probably would have gone on to win the game. We just fell a little bit short and that's been the story the past five weeks."

Trailing 2-0, the resilient Blue Devils squad got one back from the foot of top scorer Daniele Proch. Daniel Wright, getting played in behind the Wolfpack defense, earned a corner kick. Max Moser quickly took the short corner option to Wright who whipped it into the box for a fantastic one-timer from Proch. The tally was his 12th of the year and pulled Duke within one.

"We started off the first five minutes and then the one time they go down the field they scored, which gave them a lot of confidence because they were jittery and we were on the front foot," Kerr said. "Shortly thereafter they scored the second goal, which settled them down and maybe angered us and we started playing a little bit better."

Senior Suniel Veerakone nearly equalized in the 45th minute, but had his header denied by a spectacular save from NC State goalkeeper Vinnie Durand. In a near identical spot as where Proch scored his goal earlier, Veerakone sent a header towards the far post where Durand snagged it to keep the 2-1 lead heading into halftime.

Duke, pressing the issue from the opening kick in the second half, was the better team and started to find room on the wings against NC State. With the Wolfpack hanging back a bit in a more defensive setup, the Blue Devils took advantage and attacked without abandon.

Sergi Nus had a great look at goal as the ball fell to his feet 10 yards from net, but his shot was blocked. Proch remained active for the Blue Devils and proved near impossible for the Wolfpack to stop as he battled to keep his senior season alive.

Pulisic played a huge role in keeping the Blue Devils within striking distance, making an incredible point-blank save on the goal line in the 81st minute.

Buoyed by Pulisic's efforts, Duke went down the field and missed the equalizer by inches. The crossbar was the culprit this time in keeping the Blue Devils off the board as Wright's header dinged off the woodwork in the 82nd minute.

A couple minutes later with the ball at his feet, Proch danced around the Wolfpack defense and slotted a ball into the six-yard box to Wright, who sent the shot just wide of the goal. NC State killed off the final 1:20 to keep its ACC title hopes alive.

Pulisic finished with three saves, while Durand's one diving stop was his only of the afternoon. The Blue Devils held a narrow 11-10 lead in shots and 6-2 advantage on corner kicks.

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