N.C. State’s offense was in sync on Tuesday night, thumping Appalachian State 4-1 on senior night at the Dail Soccer Field in Raleigh. State’s four goals against the Mountaineers are the most it has scored this season in a match.
Coming off a massive ACC win over Virginia Tech on Friday, the Wolfpack (7-4-4) scored twice on either side of halftime to dispatch the Mountaineers (3-6-6). N.C. State head coach Kelly Findley said he was pleased with his team’s performance in the Pack’s last home match of the season.
“We got off to a great start to score in the first two minutes, and obviously to go into halftime with a 2-0 lead was tremendous,” Findley said. “I’m very pleased that we got a lot of guys in and had a great senior night. Everyone got to play, which is huge. That’s not something you always get the chance to do.”
Senior midfielder Nazmi Albadawi put the Wolfpack in front after just three minutes. Junior defenders Clement Simonin and Moss Jackson-Atogi also fired home for the Wolfpack, scoring on either side of halftime. Junior striker Nick Surkamp, the Pack’s leading scorer, notched his seventh goal of the season to round out State’s scoring.
Albadawi, who also notched an assist on Surkamp’s goal, quickly reclaimed his role as State’s attacking maestro since returning from a foot injury last week. The Raleigh native has tallied three goals and two assists in the last two games but said he’s not entirely pleased with his performance.
“To be honest, I don’t think I’m playing that well right now,” Albadawi said. “I’m scoring goals and everything, but I’m not satisfied with just scoring because there’s other things I could be doing. But it’s been good getting back into things, and it always feels good to score.”
Surkamp said that Albadawi has been missed on the field by his teammates.
“It’s great to have Naz back,” Surkamp said. “Obviously we had a great work rate when he wasn’t in there, but his creativity plus the work rate is unbelievable.”
The Pack has put together a three-game win streak and will look to keep it alive against No. 12 Maryland on Friday in College Park, Md.
“We don’t play for draws, so we’re going there to win the game,” Albadawi said. “There’s no doubt in our mind that we can get the win.”
Albadawi’s goal at the start of the game halted any upset bid the Mountaineers were hoping to pull off. Senior defender Gbenga Makinde riffled a cross from the left flank to Albadawi at the top of the box.
Albadawi, making a surging run from midfield, outran the defense and coolly chipped the ball into the net to give the Pack a lead it would never surrender.
“It was a great ball by Benga [Makinde],” Albadawi said. “He saw it perfectly, and I’m pretty confident in situations where I’m one on one with the goalie. I hit it on target and you’re always happy to see the ball go in.”
Simonin added a volley in the 22nd minute to double State’s lead. The Wolfpack went into halftime holding a comfortable 2-0 lead.
A flurry of chances in the 48th minute resulted in three goals in a three-minute period, two of them for the Wolfpack. Jackson-Atogi kicked off the frenzy, giving the Pack a 3-0 lead in the 48th minute.
The Mountaineers pulled one back via a 30-yard free kick that found its way into the net through a crowd of bodies, but Albadawi picked out Surkamp on the ensuing kickoff. Surkamp’s side-footed finish rounded out the scoring for both sides.
Surkamp said that he was happy to see his roommates Simonin and Jackson-Atogi score.
“Clement is basically the catalyst with our attacks on most of our long balls,” Surkamp said. “And Moss is always dangerous in the air. It was kind of cool because they’re both my roommates, so my whole room scored tonight.”
