After grinding out a 3-2 victory over James Madison University this past weekend at the JMU Invitational, the NC State men’s soccer team looks ahead to its next match. Friday, with kickoff coming at 7:30 p.m., the Wolfpack will travel to UNC-Chapel Hill to take on the arch-rival Tar Heels. NC State will need to be firing on all cylinders as they try to knock off the No. 3 team in the nation and ACC preseason favorite Tar Heels.
NC State opened its 2016 campaign with a narrow 1-0 loss to a solid Radford team in the first game of JMU Invitational. Radford, currently ranked No. 20 in the NSCAA coaches poll, put away an early second-half goal to down the Pack. However, the bounce-back win over James Madison boosted the team’s confidence, bringing its record to .500 (1-1-0), and set up the Friday evening showdown against Carolina.
The Tar Heels boast a 2-0-0 record and an impressive +6 goal differential in its first two matches of the season. However, neither of the two teams that Carolina has beaten this year, St. Louis and Cal-Poly, have been ranked in the top 25 nationally. The Tar Heels’ record may seem daunting with its two-straight 3-0 victories, but it is not as impressive as you may think.
Being ranked in the top five in the nation in any sport puts a vivid and pronounced target on a team’s back. In only its third match of the season, NC State is primed to record the first major upset of the young college soccer season.
The key for the Wolfpack to leave Chapel Hill with a win on Friday is consistency and confidence. Carolina is a sound team all around, but they are most dangerous on the offensive end. NC State will need it’s defensive line to play a tight laced game for 90 plus minutes in order to keep the Carolina strikers at bay. Senior goalkeeper Alex McCauley will need to be on his toes for the entirety of the night, anticipating shots and directing his back four defenders.
On NC State’s offensive end, the loss of the leading goal scorer from last season, Zach Knudson, to transfer is prevalent. However, look for redshirt sophomore striker Ade Taiwo and sophomore midfielder Julius Duchscherer to pick up where Knudson left off. Both Taiwo and Duchscherer recorded three shots and each contributed a goal in the win over James Madison, and will be looking to add to their stats against the Tar Heels.
Confidence will play a major factor in determining the final score against Carolina. It is easy for a team to look at its opponent’s record and their ranking and mentally count itself out for an upcoming match. This must not be the case for NC State. The Wolfpack must put the numbers aside and focus on playing true to its style of soccer on Friday evening.
If NC State can focus on playing rock-solid defense that keeps outside shots on goal to a minimum, along with viciously attacking the Carolina keeper with shots on target throughout the night, it will see a positive result and head back to Raleigh with the first win over the rival Tar Heels of the 2016-17 athletic year.
