It wasn’t pretty, but after 90 minutes, the NC State men’s soccer team earned its biggest win to date, defeating No. 5 Louisville 2-1 Friday night in Raleigh.
Sophomore winger Travis Wannemuehler continued his run of good form and scored his third goal in three games in the 52nd minute before assisting junior winger Reed Norton’s first career NC State goal in the 75th. The Cardinals would get one back in the 83rd, but junior goalkeeper Alex McCauley’s 12 saves preserved the 2-1 Wolfpack win.
“We’re a young team,” State Head Coach Kelly Findley said post-match. “Gaining confidence and belief is the number one thing for us.”
The injury-ridden Wolfpack (4-4-2, 1-2-1 ACC) came into Friday’s contest, the annual Kay Yow Pink Match in honor of breast cancer awareness, on a two-game losing streak and desperately needing a victory, but the fifth-ranked Cardinals (5-3-1, 3-1 ACC) were no slouches, being undefeated in the ACC.
From the opening whistle, Louisville dominated possession while the Pack sat deep and looked to break forward on the counter attack. The Cardinals exhibited a few moments of shakiness playing out from the back, and a loose pass from senior goalkeeper Joachim Ball was intercepted and nearly passed home early by Wannemuehler, but Ball recovered to make the save.
Louisville grew into the game, however, and dominated play for the rest of the half, sending shot after shot at McCauley’s net.
McCauley and the Wolfpack defense repelled the Cardinals’ assault each time, but it took heroics from the State netminder to keep the scores level. McCauley denied Louisville twice from point blank range and made a flying tip over the bar on a Louisville driven shot destined for the net.
At halftime, McCauley had recorded seven saves and the Cardinals had outshot the Wolfpack 9-2 and had the edge in corner kicks 8-1.
The second half continued the pattern of State defending deep in its own end while Louisville attacked continuously, but it was the Wolfpack who struck first against the run of play.
McCauley played a short goal kick out of the back and the State defense patiently worked the ball to the feet of junior midfielder Holden Fender, who spotted the run of Wannemuehler and launched a 60-yard pass over the Cardinals’ defense.
Initially, the pass seemed over-hit, but the Louisville keeper misjudged its flight and the ball skimmed over his head and into the path of Wannemuehler, who calmly volleyed home to give the Pack a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute and score his third goal in three games.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Wannemuehler said. “I’ve really changed my attitude in the past few weeks. I’m working harder. Last year I didn’t have the right mentality but now I’m making the runs I need to make.”
Less than 10 minutes later, it seemed like State’s lead would disappear and McCauley’s goal would finally be breached, as junior Louisville forward Ricardo Velazco drew contact from freshman State defender Matias Fracchia, earning the Cardinals a penalty kick.
Wolfpack goalkeeper McCauley was equal to the spot kick, however, and slapped the shot away.
“The goalkeeper always has the mental edge since the shooter’s supposed to score,” McCauley said. “I just waited to see where he was going and luckily he didn’t hit it that well so I didn’t have to stretch too far to get my hand to it.”
State stretched its lead to 2-0 in the 76th minute, and again Wannemuehler was involved. The winger received a short pass from Fender on the right and curled a cross to the leaping Reed Norton, who finessed a header past the Louisville keeper.
The Cardinals powered forward, looking to get back into the match and found a lifeline in the 83rd minute off a low free kick that beat the Wolfpack wall and just eluded a diving McCauley.
But McCauley would not be beaten again, as the State keeper denied two more point-blank attempts with minutes remaining in the match to secure the upset and keep hopes of an NCAA tournament berth alive.
“I don’t think we’re overconfident by any stretch,” Findley said. “But we’ll take every win we can get. We’re pleased with the result, and I’m sure the guys will respond well.”
The Wolfpack takes on Gardner-Webb Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Dail Soccer Stadium.
