North Carolina State University Athletics
Sunday, November 8
Winston-Salem, NC
2 PM
NC State
at
Wake Forest
11/6/2026 12:00:00 PM | Men's Soccer
RALEIGH, N.C. - 11-seed NC State men's soccer (6-5-5, 1-3-4 ACC) will travel to Winston-Salem, NC, Sunday afternoon and take on in-state opponent 3-seed/No. 15 Wake Forest (11-4-3, 5-3-0 ACC) in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Spry Stadium.
Watch the match live here on ACC Network. Live stats will be available here on Statbroadcast.
A win on Sunday would…
- Be the 583rd win in program history (582-498-126)
- Be the 265th win in Hubbard's head coaching career (264-65-52)
- Be Hubbard's 33rd victory at NC State (32-13-15)
- Be the 13th win over Wake Forest (12-35-6); first since 2005
Series History…
- Sunday marks the 54th all-time meeting between NC State and Wake Forest, and the second meeting this season.
- NC State trails in the series (12-35-6).
- The Wolfpack welcomed the Demon Deacons to Raleigh on September 25, 2026. The match ended with Wake Forest winning 2-1.
Quick Notes…
- The Wolfpack entered the season ranked No. 2 nationally, dropped to No. 20 after the first two games, and have fallen out of the rankings since the second week.
- After being picked to finish first in the ACC following a historic 2025 season, the Wolfpack finished 11th.
- The ACC holds six teams ranked nationally in the top-25 (No. 2 SMU, No. 3 Clemson, No. 8 Louisville, No. 15 Wake Forest, No. 17 North Carolina and No. 20 Pitt).
- A draw with Coastal Carolina to open the season moved the team's opening record under Marc Hubbard to 2-0-1.
- The Wolfpack recorded its first shutout and ranked win of the season on Sept. 15 against No. 23 UNCW, 1-0.
The 5th-year Aidan Payne…
- Aidan Payne currently leads the team with 10 goals and 21 points. Seven of his goals came during the month of October.
- Payne's scoring run began on Oct. 11, when he recorded a hattrick to power a 3-0 shutout over No. 4 UMKC.
- Against UMKC, Payne opened scoring in the 43rd minute and then struck again in the 70th minute. Just over two minutes later, he completed his hat trick to give the Wolfpack a commanding 3-0 lead.
- A week after Payne's hat trick, he recorded his second career brace, helping the Wolfpack draw 2-2 at California. Because of his performance against California, Payne was named ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 20.
- Payne scored a last minute goal at UNC on Oct. 30 to help the team record a 1-1 draw at UNC to close out the regular season.
- In the first round of the ACC Tournament, Payne scored the game-winning goal that gave NC State a 2-1 lead over Virginia Tech.
- The Wolfpack is 3-1-3 when Aidan Payne scores.
Remember the Name: Gabe Lamphere…
- Freshman goalkeeper Gabe Lamphere earned his first career start at Louisville on Oct. 2 and has started every match since then.
- Lamphere has recorded a career-high three saves twice and achieved his first clean sheet and shutout victory against No. 4 UMKC.
- Three days after his clean sheet against No. 4 UMKC, he recorded another one against Mercer.
Russell Berkoooooo….
- Sophomore forward Russell Berko has made a big impact on the Wolfpack in his first season.
- From Aylesbury, England, he ranks second on the team in points (13) and goals (6).
- Berko has earned a starting nod in every game this season, playing 1,005 minutes.
- NC State is 4-1-1 when Berko scores.
O Captain, My Captain…
- Senior midfielder Tyler Caton was named to the 15 player ACC Men's Soccer Preseason Watch List.
- He closed out the 2025 season having played and started in 20 out of 23 games in the midfield. However, an injury kept him from competing in the College Cup.
- Caton is back and has earned a starting nod in every match this season, playing the full 90 minutes in 16 out of 17 matches. He currently serves as one of the team's captains along with Caden Tolentino.
- Caton has recorded two goals and three assists this season and scored the first goal of the season in game two against Queens.
Ranked Opponent Match Ups…
- The Wolfpack is 2-2-1 against ranked opponents during the 2026 season.
- NC State shut out No. 23 UNCW 1-0 and No. 4 UMKC 3-0.
- The win against No. 4 UMKC on Oct. 11 marked the first top-5 win of the Marc Hubbard era.
The Wolfpack Versus In-State Opponents…
- During the 2026 regular season, NC State faced six in-state opponents.
- The Pack finished the regular season 3-2-1 against in-state opponents, having beaten Queens (2-1), Duke (3-1) and No. 23 UNCW (1-0), lost to Wake Forest (1-2) and UNCG (1-3) and tied against UNC (1-1).
@PackMensSoccer || #PerformanceOverPressure
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Soccer
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/ Men's Soccer
GK
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MF
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