No. 15 Men’s Soccer Draws With NC State Friday Night - University of North Carolina Athletics

Friday, October 30

Chapel Hill

7 PM

North Carolina

8-2-5, 3-1-4

NC State

5-5-6, 1-3-4

Team	1	2	Final F
NC State	0	1	1
North Carolina	0	1	1

Highlights

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

October 30, 2026 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – No. 15 North Carolina took a late lead against NC State on Friday night on Dorrance Field at Play2Dream Legacy Stadium but the Wolfpack equalized in the 89th minute to produce a 1-1 draw. The two sides traded blows all evening, but the Tar Heels broke through in the 84th minute when Evans Dapaah scored his first as a Tar Heel on Senior Night.

UNC ends the regular season at 8-2-5 (3-1-4 ACC), while NC State closes at 5-5-6 (1-3-4 ACC). Carolina ends up seventh in the ACC and will host Cal on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. for the first round of the ACC Championship tournament.

How It Happened

28' – The teams alternated possession throughout the first 28 minutes until Bertil Rygaard Hansen flew down the right flank and cut a ball back for Joschi Schelb. But, his attempt was cleared off the line.
HT – The first half ended with both teams producing one shot on goal. NC State had five shots compared to UNC's three.
53' – Luca Nikolai delivered a cross that found Schelb's head on the back post, but his looping header back across goal went wide.
60' – NC State's Aidan Payne forced a nice save by Alan Rutkowski at his near post.
76' – Nikolai fired one from outside the box that took a deflection that almost looped over the keeper but landed on top of the net.
84' – Luca Nikolai danced through the defense and laid off a perfect ball for Evans Dappah to run onto and finish to give the Heels the lead.
89' – Aidan Payne pounced on a loose ball in the box and found the bottom corner to level.

Tar Heel Tidbits

Evans Dapaah's goal was the first of his career.
Luca Nikolai's assist was his 10th of the season and the 23rd of his career.

Up Next
Carolina will learn what place it's earned in the ACC standings after tonight's matches, which will determine its opponent in the first round of the ACC Tournament. If the Heels host a first-round match, it would be played on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m.

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