In the last game of the fall schedule, NC State men’s soccer (0-5-1) played perhaps it’s best game of the year. Unfortunately for the Wolfpack, it came against the vaunted No. 2 Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-1-0). Despite the offensive creativity the Wolfpack showed at times, it never seriously threatened the Demon Deacon net, and NC State went down 2-0.
As the last fall regular-season game at home for Pack, the team took some time to recognize its seniors, namely David Norris, who served as captain of the men’s soccer team this year and will be graduating this semester.
“I can’t replace the memories I made here,” Norris said. “This team has treated me better than I can imagine. Today was emotional, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of my time here… I definitely think I had a big role creating the culture in the locker room and the standards at training. The coaches instilled that in me as a freshman and I’ve tried to push that onto the rest of the team everyday. It’s the culture of the team and our standards at practice that affects how we do, and adding to that is one of the things I think I left behind.”
Perhaps riding high and wanting to play well for its captain, the game started off well for NC State, managing to keep most of the possession in the early parts of the game, and preventing Wake Forest from getting out of its own half. Once the Demon Deacons finally broke through the wall of NC State defenders at the halfway line, they cashed in. A one-on-one chance forced redshirt junior Leon Krapf to come off his line, leaving the NC State net open for Isaiah Parente to score.
Moments after the Parente goal, disaster struck for NC State, as the referee called a foul in the NC State 18-yard box to give Wake Forest a penalty kick. There to save the night was Krapf, who stonewalled Kyle Holcomb’s attempt to slide the ball into the corner.
The Wolfpack managed to play with the same offensive spark that it had early in the first half after the goal and the penalty save. The only problem was the promising creativity in the Wolfpack midfield didn’t result in a lot of shots for the Pack forwards. It’s not like the forwards didn’t get any service — there were quite a few crosses that went dangerously close to the Wake Forest net, but players who could capitalize were hard to come by. Only freshman forward Pau Palacin managed to get a shot in the first half for the Wolfpack.
Despite the number of the offensive opportunities in the first half, the game felt like a cagey affair, with each team controlling the ball for long stretches at a time. The second half had chances for both teams, but this time they came as a result of back-and-forth play and counter-attacking soccer.
Senior George Asomani and junior Kuda Muskwe came close to finding the back of the net for the Wolfpack, but neither of their shots crossed the goal line. As NC State seemed on the verge of tying the game at one apiece, disaster struck a second time, as Asomani got his second yellow card of the night, leaving NC State shorthanded as it tried to make a comeback. Despite the circumstances, the Wolfpack coaching staff still felt they had a shot to win the game.
“I wouldn’t say we were unlucky,” said head coach George Kiefer. “They [Wake Forest] just made plays tonight, they had good execution on their part. I’m pleased with our guys’ approach. Wake Forest is probably the best team in the country and our press disrupted them a little bit. I just think that when we retain the ball that we need to make good choices.”
While NC State couldn’t find the net, that wasn’t the case for Wake Forest, who was able to sneak a shot past Krapf to double the Demon Deacon advantage 2-0. Despite NC State’s best efforts to get back in the game, Wake Forest controlled the ball for much of the rest of the game, and the Wolfpack just wasn’t given the chance to mount a comeback.
It isn’t all doom and gloom for NC State in Kiefer’s eyes. According to him, there are still some positives the team can take from this segment of the season.
“If you look at our last three matches, I thought we kept getting better and better,” Kiefer said. “Some of the younger guys are acclimating well, and we’re going to add some pieces, and hopefully you’ll see some guys who’ve adjusted to the season with six college soccer games under their belt.”
