RALEIGH, N.C. — Jayden Fitzgerald Boes tallied his sixth goal of the year on Saturday evening as Stanford battled to a 1-1 draw on the road against NC State.
The Cardinal (8-3-3, 1-2-3 ACC) added another point to the conference table after managing its second consecutive draw on the road, while NC State moves to 5-5-5 on the year following the result.
“A really hard-earned point on the road against a very good NC State team that’s finding its stride,” said Jeremy Gunn, the Knowles Family Director of Men’s Soccer. “We dealt with a difficult week of match preparations, losing a few key guys, but we had players step up and play fantastic.”
Stanford leaned on its defense to keep NC State at bay in the opening half, while the offense worked through limited space to operate. The Cardinal backline held firm against seven Wolfpack shots in the opening 45 minutes to keep both sides scoreless heading into the locker rooms.
The offense started to pick up momentum as the match turned to the second half, stringing together six consecutive shots to put NC State under attack.
A Victor Fung header in the 61st minute forced the first save of the contest, followed shortly by a Trevor Islam attempt toward the back post that required another stop from the NC State goalkeeper.
The sustained pressure finally paid off in the 71st minute, with Stanford breaking through for the opening goal. A free kick from near the corner flag found its way into the box, where savvy touches from Islam and Hugo Berg set up Fitzgerald Boes for a point-blank finish. The goal marked Fitzgerald Boes' sixth of the season, matching the team lead.
NC State responded six minutes later, drawing level in the 77th minute off a corner kick. The service was headed down in front of goal before Aidan Payne backheeled the ball into the net to make it 1-1.
The Wolfpack continued to press for a late winner, but it was the Cardinal that nearly found a moment of brilliance in the waning seconds. A long pass into the box was flicked toward Timothy Logan in front of goal, where he got a shot off but was denied by the keeper to preserve the draw.
"Considering the circumstances, I think the team played incredibly courageously," Gunn added. "Now we look forward to finishing off the regular season and celebrating Senior Day with Rowan Schnebly and Dylan Groeneveld, who have been tremendous servants of our program."
Stanford hosts the regular season finale on Oct. 30 at 6 p.m., welcoming California to Cagan Stadium for the Big Clasico.