N.C. State’s start to the 2013 season hasn’t gone as expected.
The Wolfpack (4-2-2, 1-2-1 ACC) hit the ground running, picking up three straight wins with two coming away from home. Two of its wins also came in overtime, showing that State has character and resilience to deal with adversity.
After a narrow loss to Clemson at home, the Pack earned a 3-3 tie at Virginia. State’s draw with the Cavaliers, winners of six national championships and a traditional men’s soccer powerhouse, gave State soccer fans hope.
But since the Virginia game, the Pack has struggled to produce consistent results.
The Wolfpack won just one of its three games following the match against the Cavaliers. The low point of that stretch came in State’s loss at home against Boston College, where the Pack doomed itself by surrendering a duo of second-half goals.
Head coach Kelly Findley and his players have said that this team’s goal is to make the NCAA Tournament. Findley knows as well as anyone that for State to make the NCAA Tournament, home matches against Boston College are must-win games for the Wolfpack.
State’s main problem is evident on the scoreboard: an inability to score goals. The Wolfpack has outshot its opponents 157-96 this year, showing State’s offensive dominance.
But the Pack has only scored 12 goals in 2013, a dismal return for a team that averages almost 20 shots per game.
The Wolfpack’s against Clemson is a perfect encapsulation of State’s inefficiency in front of goal. The Wolfpack outshot the Tigers, the No. 13 team in the nation, by a total of 17-6 and was the dominant side throughout the match.
But State couldn’t find the back of the net and lost a game that it could have, and should have, won.
There is plenty of optimism surrounding the Pack. It has a dominant offense, a capable defense and a reliable goalkeeper. Wolfpack soccer has the right style about its play too. In full flow, State’s attack is thrilling to watch.
But what’s most disappointing is that although the Wolfpack seems so close to breaking through its goal drought, the breakthrough hasn’t come yet.
Junior forward Nick Surkamp, Findley’s first-choice striker this season, has scored just four goals on 30 shots. Surkamp found the net three times in two games against Virginia and Davidson, but has since been unable to maintain his red-hot form up front.
Senior midfielder Nazmi Albadawi, the Wolfpack’s attacking centerpiece, has scored just once in 2013. Albadawi, State’s leading goal scorer in 2011, will be expected to improve his output if the Pack is to be successful this season.
The burden doesn’t just fall on Surkamp and Albadawi. The Wolfpack attackers have all had numerous chances bounce inches wide or be denied by desperate, last-gasp defending.
There’s an old saying in soccer: when the goals start coming, they come in buckets. State is agonizingly close to a breakthrough, and when it happens, the Wolfpack will finally have both the style and the substance to compete with the nation’s top teams.
