Sophomore Yanni Hachem scored a first-half hat trick, and the NC State men’s soccer team defeated UNC-Greensboro 5-0 to finish the spring exhibition season in style Saturday night at Dail Soccer Stadium.

Despite the emphatic ending to the spring season, head coach Kelly Findley is reluctant to count his chickens before his eggs have hatched.

“The spring is the spring,” Findley said. “We’re trying to grow and we’re playing everybody, but these games aren’t the same as the ones in the fall.”

Right now, the team is focused on long-term goals, rather than individual victories that do not count on any official record.

“What’s important is that our guys take this and keep getting better but make sure they prepare well for the [regular season],” Findley said. 

From the opening whistle, the Wolfpack took control of the game and appeared far more organized than the Spartans, who struggled to deal with State’s numerical advantage inside and the simultaneous individual quality of the Pack’s wide players.

Sophomore Travis Wannemuehler, playing as a right back but given license to continuously attack, was the danger man for NC State early in the match, and freshman center back Matias Fracchia and junior midfielder Holden Fender frequently looked to play passes into him.

Less than five minutes in, a Wannemuehler pass found the feet of onrushing freshman midfielder Nick Retzlaff, whose curled shot rebounded off the far post but straight to Hachem, who made no mistake from four yards.

Soon after, Wannemuehler again got down the right side of the field and cut the ball back to Hachem, who dispatched his shot into the corner of the net.

The Spartans just couldn’t muster much offense, as the combination of Fracchia, junior Reed Norton and Fender were proactive to put a stop to opposition attacks, and before too long, Hachem completed his hat trick.

Freshman forward Ryan Peterson provided the pass, skipping past his defender, getting to the end line, and playing a pass toward the penalty spot where Hachem was once again waiting.

Hachem, the Cardinal Gibbons High School product and Cary native, was in a four-way tie for the team lead in goals in 2014, and is expected to step up this season. Findley was most impressed with Peterson’s all-around play as the team’s center attacking mid than just finding the back of the net.

“The thing I thought he did the best today was he defended really well,” Findley said about Hachem. “He won the ball in some great spots, and if you’re going to play in that role you have to do both things well, and I think he did that tonight.”

The Wolfpack focused on ball retention in the second half, and comfortably dealt with mounting Greensboro pressure.

NC State sealed the win late in the game with two quick goals. Findley changed his team’s shape from the diamond 4-4-2 to his standard 4-2-3-1, and Norton, demonstrating his positional versatility, moved from center back to left wing.

The Georgia Southern transfer, wasted no time, receiving a pass from Peterson on a counter attack and blasting the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

Minutes later, freshman Izzy Evans made his first game appearance since 2014’s August exhibitions and grabbed a goal, as his shot deflected past the stranded Greensboro keeper, which prompted his teammates into celebration.

The conclusion of the spring exhibition season has seen the Wolfpack take on a variety of opponents including other collegiate teams, professional sides and even past Pack players. Members of the 2015 squad will head off to summer teams to stay in shape before returning to State in August.

In that respect, the layoff comes at an inconvenient time for Findley and his players, as the team has spent the last few months training relentlessly on learning the habits, patterns and concepts that will bring success in the fall.

“We’re getting really close,” Findley said. “The hard part now is that it’s summer, so now we don’t get to be with them for a couple months. Now it takes self-discipline and focus to make sure they do the right things through the summer and prepare well.”

Having laid the groundwork, the team has principles upon which it can build.

“I think the guys want to do well, and I think they’re growing as a team and enjoying it,” Findley said. “You can see the results on the field, so now we just have to carry those habits into the fall.”

After fielding a starting lineup with just two seniors and the bulk of the recruiting class to enter in August, this NC State team could surprise come the regular season.