WILLIAMSBURG, Va.— Aidan Morrison and Gabe Ruitenberg put themselves on the scoresheet Wednesday night, but the William & Mary men's soccer team ultimately fell to No. 19 NC State, 4-2, at Martin Family Stadium.
 
The Tribe wasted no time going on the attack, picking up a pair of shots in the first two minutes.
 
Jack Crocco fired a header towards goal off a free kick from Alexandros Katsari-Hoefer. The try was blocked however, going for a W&M corner. Off the ensuing set piece Morrison tried a header of his own that narrowly went high of the crossbar.
 
The Wolfpack then started an attack of their own and found the back of the net via quick 'tic-tac-toe' passing in the 16^th minute.
 
Cole McNally made a stop minutes later in goal for the Tribe before Diogo Branco and Gabe Ruitenberg fired shots to try and equalize the game at 1-1 in the 30^th minute.
 
Both were unable to find the target which led to an NC State counterattack and another goal, making it 2-0.
 
The Wolfpack would take that lead to the halftime break despite trailing W&M 5-4 in shots.
 
After halftime Chris Norris' squad showed more energy offensively. McNally picked up an early save which was followed by shots from Ruitenberg, Evan Rabush and Sam Delgado all falling off target early in the half.
 
W&M would eventually break through in the 62^nd minute with Morrison being on the receiving end of a long pass from Rabush. The sophomore fought a defender off the ball, taking a shot that snuck inside the far post as he fell to the ground to make it a 2-1 game.
 
The goal was the third of the season for Morrison while Rabush earned his fifth assist.
 
Moments later Crocco had his bid for a match-tying goal saved by the Wolfpack keeper, which spurred the NC State attack back into action.
 
The visitors tried a trio of shots over the next six minutes, with one off target, one rattling the crossbar and another finding the arms of McNally.
 
NC State would eventually pick up their insurance goal in the 81^st minute before adding another in the 83^rd to go up 4-1.
 
The Tribe didn't hang their heads and played till the final whistle, with Ruitenberg taking a pass from Webb Kosich and converting on a well-placed shot in the 85^th minute.
 
For Ruitenberg it was his second goal in the last three games while Kosich earned his first helper of the season.
 
That would be the final action of the night as the Wolfpack would take the 4-2 win back to Raleigh.
 
Shots would finish 15-14 in favor of the Green and Gold. McNally racked up three saves in his third start of the season for W&M.
 
Up Next
The Tribe will complete their home schedule and return to CAA action when they welcome Campbell on Saturday for a 7 p.m. kick. FloCollege will have the broadcast of the match.