The NC State men’s soccer team pulled out a 0-0 draw against No. 5 ranked Syracuse after going through two overtime periods with ten men Saturday night in Dail Soccer Stadium.
The Wolfpack (6-5-4, 1-3-3 ACC) lost freshman midfielder Zach Knudson to a red card in the 91st minute but hung on to force the ACC-leading Orange (13-2-1, 4-2-1 ACC) into its first tie of the season. In doing so, State stays in contention for a spot in the NCAA tournament.
“Each side had quality chances,” NC State sophomore midfielder Michael Bajza said. “To go down a man and still get a point is big time.”
The opening half was fairly even, with the Pack generally adopting a more pragmatic, defensive approach against the highly ranked Orange. However, State tried to break forward and created spells of danger, unafraid to move the ball purposefully from defense to attack.
Syracuse generally played on the back foot for the first 20 minutes, but its overall quality started to cause problems past the midpoint of the first half and got its best chance in the 40th minute, when freshman midfielder Julian Buescher’s looping shot bounced off the top of the crossbar.
When the halftime whistle blew, Syracuse narrowly beat the Pack in shots, 3-2, but both keepers only registered a single save.
The game proceeded into the second half with a similar theme, and both State and ‘Cuse enjoyed waves of attacking pressure.
Both team’s star freshmen attackers grew into the game, with State’s Knudson looking the most dangerous of the Wolfpack, while Syracuse’s Buescher caused trouble with his clever footwork.
Knudson saw a point-blank header denied in the 56th minute by Syracuse goalkeeper Alex Bono, recently rated the second-best player in the country by Top Drawer Soccer. The ‘Cuse junior dropped down to his left well and stopped the attempt.
Over the course of the second 45, the game was primarily an even contest, with shots slightly in favor of Syracuse, 7-5, and at the end of 90, the score remained knotted at 0-0, with both defenses repelling attacks confidently and consistently.
In particular, State’s freshmen center back pairing of Conor Donovan and Matias Fracchia were peerless in the air and swift to cut out direct balls from the Syracuse midfield.
After a few errors in his first few games and starting in place of injured senior Clement Simonin, Fracchia, a Uruguayan Under-20 national team member, has found his feet alongside Donovan, a U.S. Under-20 international.
“[Donovan] and I knew each other from the national team,” Fracchia said. “Ever since we arrived in the summer we’ve had a pretty good bond.”
The entire shape of the game would change just after the start of the first period of “golden goal” overtime, as Knudson received his marching orders after picking up a second yellow in the 91st.
Down a man, State sat in and absorbed the copious amounts of Syracuse pressure.
“Our two banks of four did a great job [managing being down a man],” NC State head coach Kelly Findley said. “It showed a different side of our play, more of a grind. The red definitely changed our tactics and forced us to sit deeper.”
The Orange managed three shots in the first overtime and four in the second, compared to State’s one and two, respectively.
Both sides nearly snuck a winner, as Pack junior midfielder Philip Carmon was denied by Bono after good work from freshman Ryan Peterson in the 106th, while senior goalkeeper Alex McCauley preserved the shutout with a tremendous save of his own, stopping a header from Orange sophomore wingback Oyvind Alseth with 14 seconds left on the clock.
At the final whistle, the scoreboard read 0-0, a result that aids the Wolfpack’s quest for a tournament bid, which injuries and inconsistency nearly denied.
“We’re playing well at the right time of the year,” Findley said. “Injuries have hurt us but the guys have responded incredibly well.”
The Wolfpack faces Liberty (8-4-1) in its last home match of the season Tuesday at the Dail Soccer Stadium.
