It may have taken a couple of extra minutes, but N.C. State (5-5-3, 1-3-1 ACC) managed to scrape out a 2-1 overtime win against Clemson (6-8-1, 1-5-0 ACC) on Sunday at Method Road Stadium for the team’s first ACC victory of the year.
Senior midfielder Ernesto Di Laudo’s goal at the 91:46 mark in overtime pushed the Wolfpack to the win. Sophomore defender Orry Powers scored the first goal on a direct kick from 30 yards out at the 51:48 mark.
The most impressive part of the Pack’s performance, according to coach George Tarantini, was the increase in offensive pressure the team applied.
“We changed a few things,” Tarantini said. “We went with three guys up top to give them more stress, to create more situations to score, and for the most part, it worked pretty well.”
Senior forward El Hadj Cisse had four of State’s nine shots.
“The whole week we worked on offense, trying [different offensive sets], and it really worked today,” Cisse said.
The game was defined by constant physical play, which resulted in 32 fouls, four yellow cards and numerous scuffles between players. Only a few minutes into the second half, the frustration started to spill over when sophomore midfielder Daniel Fish received an elbow to the head from a Clemson defender. Cisse was quick to his defense.
“There was a defender who elbowed him in the face, and I have to defend my teammate,” Cisse said of the altercation.
No penalty was assessed on the play, as it appeared the referees all had diverted their attention to the direct kick that would eventually become Powers’ goal.
“They were missing a lot of stuff after, like behind the play and after the ball was gone,” Fish said. “They were doing all right, but behind the play was where all the cheap stuff happened.”
Seconds after the Pack’s first goal, Clemson defender Havird Usry was tackled, prompting a swift uprising by the other Clemson players, State’s players and both benches.
Elbows and profanities aside, Tarantini said the end result was a big win for the Pack. “This is the ACC, you know, this is the best league. It’s exciting, it’s very intense,” Tarantini said. “In this league you have to win 50 percent of your games to have a chance. So for us, now we’ve won one, so we need to win our next game and keep getting better in the ACC.”
State has conference games remaining against Maryland, Virginia Tech and Duke in the regular season, with the ACC tournament starting on Nov. 13.
For now, the first win feels good, Fish said.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “We worked hard the entire week — everybody was competitive and pushing each other, and it’s good to get a result out of that.”
