The past few days have not been too kind to the top teams in the nation, particularly to the ranked Carolina schools. This time, in their ACC season opener, North Carolina State stunned the #3/#5 Clemson Tigers 1–0 in Raleigh on Friday night.

From the beginning it was all Wolfpack. NC State came out with a lot more energy and the team definitely had their eyes on victory from the start.

The Pack set the tone early thanks to a beautiful chip by freshman Emanuel Perez, who opened the scoring in the seventh minute. It was Perez’s third goal of the season in just his third college match.

Before the midway point in the first half, the Wolfpack led the Tigers 6–2 in shots and 1–0 on the scoreboard. The Pack did start to get careless however, giving up some careless fouls in threatening positions for the Tigers.

Clemson thought they had an equalizer when Diego Campos found Jason Wright off of a free kick, but Wright was ruled offsides. This would be one of several key moments in an emotional and enthralling match.

The man of the match was solidified in the 30th minute when NC State keeper Leon Krapf made a diving stop on Wright from point blank range, keeping the one-goal advantage alive early.

Former West Bromwich Albion member and NC State freshman Brad Sweeney almost made it 2–0, but he collided with Clemson keeper Ximo Miralles. Due to the nature of the alleged challenge Clemson players quickly surrounded Sweeney who retaliated, thus receiving a yellow card for his actions.

Krapf made another incredible save right before halftime to make sure the Pack kept their 1–0 lead going into the break.

The biggest momentum shift of the game came in a back and forth second half when a hard challenge by Clemson’s Diego Campos led to a red card for the Tiger. This left the #3/#5 Clemson Tigers down a man and still down a goal with 20 minutes left to play.

NC State remained relentless as they tried to get a second goal before time ran out, and Clemson could not get a footing down a man. The Wolfpack had three corners in less than two minutes but failed to get that second goal.

Failure to find the second goal didn’t matter when the clock read zeros. Clemson failed to find an equalizer, and the Wolfpack nabbed their first win against the Tigers since 2008.

It was also the first win against Clemson in Raleigh since 2007.

North Carolina State will take on Longwood next on Sep. 12 in Raleigh. Clemson will travel back home to take on North Florida on Sep. 12.