RALEIGH, N.C. - NC State scored three straight goals in five minutes in the second half and defeated Campbell, 4-1, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night at Dail Soccer Park.
Alemu Mercer-Miko tied the match, 1-1, in the 61
st minute when
Matt Lock found
JJ Donnelly right outside the 18-yard box who then played the ball to Mercer-Miko who struck for his first goal of the season.
Mercer-Miko's goal opened the scoring slate in the second half and served as the equalizer to David Norris' header off a cross from Ivy Brisma in the 42
nd minute.
Brad Sweeney put the Wolfpack back on top in the 69
th minute with a score off the penalty after he was fouled in the box by Donnelly.
Just over three minutes later Gabriel Machado netted his first of two goals on the night after David Loera touched the ball to Brisma who then found Machado for the score.
Machado provided the night cap just two minutes later when he took the corner kick and bent it into the net for his second score of the night.
"I thought the first twenty minutes of the second half we regrouped really well and responded with the goal and thought we had a chance to even take the lead but the penalty kick goal changed that," said head coach
Dustin Fonder. "We have a really great group and we went through a lot of highs and some lows this season but we were able to regroup and win a Big South Championship. This group of seniors have done a great job of inheriting a program and making it better than how they found it."
JJ Donnelly nearly provided the equalizer of Sweeney's opening goal in the 58
th minute when he put the ball in the net but his attempt was negated by a Campbell foul in the box.
Donnelly produced another quality chance just four minutes into the second half when he gathered the ball right outside the six-yard box and fired a shot with forced a Leon Krapf diving foot save.
Campbell's march to the NCAA Tournament marked its first trip to the tournament since the 2007 season when Campbell won the Atlantic Sun Title.
