The Wolfpack men’s soccer team split a preseason doubleheader on Saturday, defeating Campbell University, 2-0, before dropping a close match to nationally ranked Navy, 2-1.

Head coach Kelly Findley chose to test his younger players against Campbell, fielding a side of primarily reserve players looking to break into the first team in the fall.

The results were encouraging. The Wolfpack controlled the game and created multiple chances down the left side in the first half.

The game seemed to be heading for a draw until late in the second half when combination play between junior forward Phil Carmon and senior midfielder Matt Ingram on the right flank resulted in a cross decisively headed in by junior left midfielder Reed Norton.

The Wolfpack finished the game fewer than five minutes later when Ingram capitalized on Campbell’s loose play at the back to sprint in for a one-on-one chance against Campbell’s keeper, which Ingram emphatically converted.

“I thought those guys played great,” Findley said, complimenting his reserve players. “That’s exactly what you expect. They did a good job of keeping our principles right and demonstrated they’re growing as players.”

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Wolfpack competed against an excellent Naval Academy side, a team that went to the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament before losing 2-1 to Wake Forest.

Navy played better during the first half, but the Wolfpack’s defense held firm against staunch pressure.

The main problem for the Wolfpack was transition. When defending, N.C. State traditionally looks to deny its opponents room to play and forces turnovers. The ball is then advanced quickly, and the team uses 6-foot-1-inch senior striker Nick Surkamp’s size and athleticism as an outlet to relieve pressure.

Against Navy, however, Surkamp was shackled by the Midshipmen’s center back duo of senior All-American Joseph Greenspan (6 feet 6 inches tall) and junior Derek Vogel (6 feet 4 inches tall). The duo’s combination of height and speed limited Surkamp’s ability to hold onto the ball, slowing down State’s counterattacks and forcing the Wolfpack to spend considerably more time in defense than on offense.

“I don’t think we handled their pressure well,” Findley said. “That was probably my biggest frustration on the day. We didn’t do the little things, like getting half-turns or getting in the right spots, and we got punished for it. Our play in the final third has to be a little bit better.”

After spending so much time defending, the Pack’s core of attacking midfielders struggled to affect play at both ends of the field.

“Travis [Wannemuehler], Yanni [Hachem] and Roland [Minogue] all played a half in the first game,” Findley said. “[Michael] Bazja played 20 minutes too, so we had some guys who played over 90 minutes today in the heat, which was always going to be a factor. Navy did a great job rotating its players, too, so that made it more difficult.”

During a tough 15-minute stretch midway through the second half, Navy managed to breach the Wolfpack’s back line three times. State’s junior goalkeeper Alex McCauley managed to stop a one-on-one opportunity, but could do nothing about the two Navy goals, which largely resulted from unfortunate bounces.

“I did feel like the ball bounced their way quite a bit, but that’s the way it goes,” Findley said. “However, I don’t think we did a great job defensively with how quickly they moved, and we didn’t transition as well as we should have.”

Despite going down 0-2, the Wolfpack continued to look for a reply, and, after hitting the post and nearly converting an error by Navy’s goalkeeper, State managed to pull one back through senior center back Clement Simonin, who volleyed in a free kick from sophomore midfielder Michael Bajza.

The Pack’s late comeback fell short, however, as the game finished 2-1 in favor of Navy.

Findley said he took positives from the team’s first encounter with adversity this spring.

“We’re trying to learn lessons in the spring and get better,” Findley said. “The lesson we learned today was: You have to play every minute all the time. You have to be willing to grind and play against a team that works hard.”