Men’s soccer opener concludes in draw

The N.C . State men’s soccer team opened up its season with a draw against Saint Francis after two overtime periods at Dail Soccer Stadium on Friday night. Though the Wolfpack had many scoring opportunities throughout the game due to its clear advantage in time of possession, they failed to convert any of these chances into goals.

Coach Kelly Findley said that the Pack missed some breaks on offense, but he is confident that the goals will come.

“Most stuff was a foot here or there and we score a goal,” Findley said. “I’m pleased with our process. We got a shutout, and I’m pleased with the way we’re playing and I know the goals will come.”

Though the Pack accumulated 14 shots throughout the game, many shot opportunities were left on the pitch. Redshirt junior midfielder Nazmi Albadawi , the player with the most shots and shots on target, said the team was timid to pull the trigger early.

“I feel like we were a bit hesitant to shoot at first,” Albadawi said. “Once we started shooting, we started getting so many more chances, which is what we should have done all game. But it’ll come, our goals will come.”

State also had a distinct advantage in corner kick opportunities, ending the game with eleven corner kicks against Saint Francis’ two. However, the Pack’s corner kicks went wasted time and time again.

Findley cited the short training season as a reason for the lack of capitalization on the corners, and showed belief in the team’s ability to turn that around for the rest of the season.

“It’s hard in college soccer, we have about two weeks to prepare ourselves, to get the guys organized, to get team chemistry, make sure we’re fit, then prepare ourselves,” Findley said. “We didn’t deliver as well, but that’s something you get better and better at as the year goes on.”

While the Pack’s offense struggled to convert its plentiful scoring opportunities, the defense played strongly, consistently getting in Saint Francis’ passing lanes the few times their offense got near the box, a major reason behind Saint Francis only getting off five shots the whole game.

Perhaps the most exciting play of the game occurred with time winding down at the end of the first half. Sophomore midfielder for State, Ryan Metts , dumped in a long ball from midfield to the Saint Francis box, where freshman forward Zabarle Kollie laid down a perfect header into the bottom left corner of the net, just past the Saint Francis’ goalkeeper’s fingertips. However, the goal was disallowed because time had just expired for the end of the half.

Few valid scoring opportunities were present in either overtime period. State had only two strong chances in the twenty minutes of overtime, both coming as direct kicks after fouls just outside of the 18-yard box in the second period. On the first chance, freshman midfielder Ollie Kelly sailed the ball high of the net. The second chance resulted in a great save by goalkeeper Darius Motazed of Saint Francis as Albadawi drilled a shot right beneath the crossbar and Motazed punched the ball just over, leading to a mishandled corner kick opportunity for State.

Pack fan support was plentiful at the game, with nearly 750 people in attendance despite the undesirable weather coming from Hurricane Irene. The team was appreciative of the support, and senior defender Justin Willis spoke of the fan support.

“We had good support tonight, especially with this weather,” Willis said. “We want to thank the fans for coming out and supporting us.”

With the next game just around the corner on Monday against Virginia Military Institute, State is keeping their head up and remaining confident.

Albadawi provided some insight into what the team is thinking going into the weekend and what type of message Findley provided the team after the game.

“Coach just talked to us right now about keeping our heads up.” Albadawi said. “We’re creating chances, which is good; goals are going to come eventually, and once they do, I think that it’s going to be an onslaught.”