NC State Men’s Soccer suffers its first home loss of the season against Wake Forest, 2-1

Fifth-year forward Aidan Payne scuffles with Wake Forest junior defender Mason Sullivan during the game against Wake Forest at Dail Soccer Field on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026. NC State fell to Wake Forest 2-1.

NC State (3-3-3) suffered its third loss of the season, extending its winless drought against Wake Forest (6-2-1) since 2005.

The Wolfpack dominated in possession and shots over the Demon Deacons despite being down and tying the match in the late second half. However, a late goal in the 87th minute by midfielder Jeffrey White, assisted by Parris Mitchell, secured the win for Wake Forest off a counterattack.

“It feels like this is a season where we make major mistakes, and we’re giving up goals,” head coach Marc Hubbard said. “We’re tying games, and we’re losing games that we shouldn’t. So the mark of a good team is learning from your mistakes, even within the game, and being able to adjust.”

Both teams struggled to create opportunities with one shot apiece in the first 21 minutes until midfielder Chandler Young opened the scoring, giving Wake Forest the lead on a counterattack play. At the 37th minute, fifth-year midfielder Caden Tolentino responded with a score from a distance shot; however, the equalizer was disallowed by handball after being reviewed.

After the disallowed goal, the Wolfpack kept pushing offensively. Fifth-year forward Aiden Payne scored the equalizer, assisted by senior midfielder Ervin Cruz in the 82th minute. Payne scored his second goal; additionally, Cruz also marked his second assist of the season.

Five minutes after NC State equalized the match, a counterattack by the Demon Deacons scored the winning goal in the last three minutes of the second half.

“Proud of how we played and, again, created enough chances to win the game,” Hubbard said. “Again, our finishing in the box lets us down again. So that’s part of the game”.

A big issue for the Pack tonight was defending counterattacks, as Wake Forest scored both of its goals on the counter.

“We know [Wake Forest is] good at being able to counter and run at us. We didn’t prevent it enough, to give up a goal like that is just crushing.” Hubbard said.

Although the team’s build-up play was consistent through the game, Hubbard was not pleased with the number of chances his side passed up.

“We did a better job in our possession not getting pinched in the middle third and really protecting the ball,” Hubbard said. “It’s more like we’re attacking, and we’re in the final third, and we piss the ball away unnecessarily.”

The Pack will fly to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals on Oct. 2 at 6 p.m., looking to bounce back with a victory after losing two consecutive matches.

“The beauty of the ACC is you can have a letdown, and then you have another opportunity in the next one,” said Hubbard. “So having to go to Louisville and play there is just another great opportunity to get back what we lost tonight. Obviously, we need to improve and learn from this.