NC State Newsstand: Men’s soccer rises to highest-ever ranking in program history
When Marc Hubbard arrived at NC State ahead of last season, his goal was to help guide the Wolfpack men’s soccer program back to the NCAA Tournament. It hadn’t been since 2019, so it seemed to be a tangible, but challenging goal playing in the ACC.
That didn’t seem to stress Hubbard, who not only helped the Pack back to the Big Dance, but NC State made a run to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1992. It was an historic first season in Raleigh for Hubbard that seemingly set the tone for what was to come in 2025.
NC State is 3-0 to kick off Hubbard’s second season with the Wolfpack, and it has surged to a No. 5 ranking in this week’s United Soccer Coaches Poll — the program’s highest-ever mark since the list began in 1996. The program surged inside the top-five for the first time ever thanks to a dominant start as it has outscored its opponents 10-0.
The Wolfpack opened the season with a 2-0 win over Queens on Aug. 21 before it downed Wofford 6-0 three days later behind a natural hat trick from Donavan Phillip in a less than six minute stretch. NC State continued its hot streak with a 2-0 win over FIU last Friday in its toughest test to this point in the year.
Now that NC State is ranked inside the top five, it is set to host North Carolina on Friday night at the Dail Soccer Field (7:30 p.m., ACC Network). The Wolfpack is 3-16-4 in the all-time series against the Tar Heels with its last win a 1-0 victory during the 2018 campaign.
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As NC State puts its best ranking on the line against its arch rival, the Wolfpack is evidence of how strong the ACC men’s soccer league is this fall. The conference has seven teams ranked inside the top-25, including six of the top-10: No. 1 Stanford, No. 3 Clemson, No. 5 NC State, No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 8 Virginia Tech, No. 10 Pitt and No. 14 Duke.
Tweets of the day
Check out this behind the scenes look at NC State football’s 24-17 win over East Carolina.
Wolfpack women’s basketball released its ACC schedule.
Former NC State cross country and track star Sam Bush turned pro with Adidas.
Quote of the day
NC State offensive coordinator Kurt Roper called his first game at the helm of an offense since 2017 in the win over ECU. He reflected on how it went Tuesday.
“I think we made a lot of plays. We had some explosive plays. We made plays down the field, which was exciting to see, and then we weren’t consistent enough in finishing the drive,” Roper said. “Whether that was a play call, a penalty, lack of execution to stop the drive, we just didn’t finish those drives. We all would have felt like we played a pretty complete game if we were to do that.”
Today’s top headlines
NC State OC Kurt Roper reflects on first game as play-caller after win over ECU
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Scouting priority NC State target Jasiah Jervis: 4-star SG on rise
NC State never afraid to play true freshman WRs. Teddy Hoffmann is the latest example
