At the midway point in its season, N.C. State is not where it wants to be.
After tying three of its last four games, the Wolfpack (4-3-4, 1-3-3 ACC) are 10th in ACC standings. The team’s preseason goal of making the NCAA Tournament is still reachable, but every game from this point forward is a must-win for the Pack.
State’s schedule only gets harder from here on out too, as it plays No. 7 Notre Dame on Friday and travels to No. 9 Maryland in two weeks.
State’s attacking style has been entertaining to watch all season. The Wolfpack creates plenty of scoring opportunities and generally dominates possession.
But head coach Kelly Findley’s team has an Achilles’ heel: an inability to score consistently.
State’s defense has been solid, allowing 1.45 goals per game. But the Pack has been let down by sub-par offensive production when it gets opportunities to score.
However, things aren’t all bad for the Wolfpack. It played great, competitive matches against No. 18 Virginia, No. 20 Clemson and No. 22 Wake Forest and arguably could have won all three games. If State had won just two of those three games, it would be in the top half of the conference and on the inside track for a NCAA Tournament bid.
“Our quality of play has been getting better in each game,” Clement Simonin said. “I think we should expect better results going forward.”
The Wolfpack features a core group of young talent this year.
Freshman midfielders Travis Wannemuehler and Michael Bajza, along with sophomore midfielder Holden Fender, have been regular starters for State this season. Freshman midfielder Roland Minogue and freshman forward Davi Ramos have also played significant minutes.
These young players are going to be the nucleus of the Wolfpack soccer program in years to come. Findley’s foresight to give them immediate playing time ensures a bright future for Wolfpack soccer.
State’s program has developed a blue-collar identity, where players work hard on both sides of the ball to maximize possession and create scoring chances.
“We’ve grown in our ability to apply different tactics that will help us get results,” Findley said. “We’re a hard-working team with some quality, and we’re pretty good going forward but as a group all the guys are willing to do the little things that matter to get results. That’s been a big step for us this year.”
The little things that Findley refers to include working hard in defense, a mentality largely missing from Wolfpack teams of the past. But State’s current crop of players know that playing tough defense is key to earning consistent results.
“I’ve been impressed with our ability to transition from attack mode to defense,” Findley said. “We have a lot of guys who aren’t used to defending and don’t really want to defend, which no one really wants to. But I’ve been impressed with their willingness to do that because they know it gets results.”
The Wolfpack is within sight of becoming a top program in the ACC, one of the best soccer conferences in the country.
All the pieces are in place. The Pack has the right players, the right mentality and the right coach to establish a national soccer powerhouse in Raleigh. It has even played close, competitive games with some of the best teams in the nation and should only get better in the coming years.
N.C. State’s recent results simply don’t reflect the massive strides the program has made during the last three years.
