In the battle for the final position in the quarterfinals of the ACC men’s soccer tournament, N.C . State defeated Virginia Tech 1-0 at the Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, in a rematch of the fixture at the same stage last year.
Having qualified as the number eight and nine seeds for the tournament, it was a must-win game for both N.C . State (7-10-2) and Virginia Tech (4-13-2) as a loss would mean an end of the season for both teams but in the end it was the Pack who triumphed in a closely fought game that saw as little as seven shots in the first half.
First-year coach Kelly Findley , whose team also beat Virginia Tech during the regular season, admitted that playing the Hokies earlier helped them get a better understanding of how the game could turn out to be coming in the fixture.
“Virginia Tech is a very direct team and we talked about not giving them any starts,” Findley said. “We got to be able to do both things well, defend well and attack well and you can’t give up one for the another and I thought the difference today was that the guys did a good job of doing both really well. We just got what we deserved in the end.”
Redshirt freshman Nazmi Albadawi , who had scored the overtime winner against the Hokies when the two teams met at Dail Soccer Stadium during the regular season, was once again the difference between the two teams as in the 60th minute, freshman midfielder Matt Ingram possessed the ball in midfield and found sophomore midfielder Ryan Metts on the wing. Metts crossed the ball into the Hokies ‘ penalty area, where Albadawi nudged the ball into the back of the net with utmost ease to hand the Pack the initiative.
It was the ninth goal of the season for Albadawi , who became the first Wolfpack player in three years to score at least that many goals in one season and also his seventh in ACC play, bringing him back up to second place in the ACC standings for both goals and points scored.
Findley claimed the team was feeling pressurized going into the game as a loss would mean an abrupt end to the season but was glad to see the team rise to the occasion.
“I thought we played really well, we looked a little tense in the start of the game, we have been on a pretty hard stretch and there was a lot of pressure on the game,” Findley said. “If you lose, your season is done. I thought we looked like that when we played in the first 25 minutes of the game but I thought we were really good in the second half.”
State next plays No. 3 UNC in a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal encounter, a fixture which saw the Tarheels trounce the Pack, 4-0. Findley , who oversaw the regular season fixture between the perennial in-state rivals, a close game that saw the Pack lose to an unfortunate over-time goal, felt the team would play to their strengths and would try and capitalize on their opponents weaknesses.
“We defend well as a group, we are hard to score against, we don’t give up that many goals, we score goals,” noted Findley . “Now we need to put both sides together, defend well as a group and capitalize on the chances because we know Carolina always gives out some easy ones.
“We know that we are going to have to work hard, we know we have to be committed to what we do, not really a special game plan as such but we just got to go out and try to continue to get better,” Findley said.
State will return to action tomorrow night in the ACC Tournament against North Carolina at 7 p.m in Chapel Hill.
