In the 2022 regular season finale, the NC State men’s soccer team fell against the Clemson Tigers 3-0 on Friday, Oct. 28 after failing to get scoring opportunities against a stout Tiger defense.
The loss marks the close of a mediocre regular season for the Wolfpack (6-6-4, 2-5-1 ACC), which suffered another conference loss to the Tigers (10-5-1, 3-4-1 ACC).
The Tigers opened up the scoring in the 23rd minute with a penalty kick goal from Hamady Diop. Fouls were something the Wolfpack struggled with in this game as the officials had their whistles ready for this one, calling 15 fouls on each side through the full 90 minutes.
In addition to the foul calls, NC State accumulated three yellow cards in its final regular season game. The aggressive attitude of the Pack made it clear that it gave Clemson a fight, leaving everything on the field.
The second Clemson goal came in the 42nd minute by Isaiah Easley with assists from Nathan Richmond and Marco Garcia, allowing the Tigers to enter halftime with all of the momentum.
After the break, the pace of the game slowed as the Wolfpack continued to stall on offense, leading to the shutout. Clemson’s third and final goal of the game came in the final 10 minutes of play. The score was the result of an own goal off a corner kick, with a Wolfpack defender in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Pack had little momentum at this point in the match, but the own goal put the game to rest, with NC State unable to rally the offense in the waning moments of the game.
With the loss ending the Pack’s regular season, there are bright spots from the year that should carry over to 2023. This has been a very up and down season, but there are young players on the roster that are poised to become leaders of the team next year. In addition, there shouldn’t be much roster turnover for the 2023 season, with 17 underclassmen currently on the roster.
Despite this, some key seniors and graduate students may have played their final game for the Wolfpack. Notably, graduate midfielder Conor Kelly left everything on the field and has been a key piece of the red-and-white this season.
While the regular season is over, it’s possible NC State will see some postseason action. If this is the case, the Pack has improved its offensive production as the season has progressed, but NC State will have to play to its strengths, play good defense and take advantage of opportunities given by its opponents if the team is to advance in the postseason.
