The men’s soccer team looks to rebound against Georgia Southern today following a disappointing showing at the Duke/Adidas Classic in Durham last weekend. The game is slated for 4:00 p.m. at Method Road Stadium.
On Friday the Wolfpack (2-1-1) drew with No. 12 St. Louis 1-1 before losing 0-1 against Villanova (3-1) on Sunday.
According to sophomore midfielder Jorge Mora, the team missed valuable opportunities to score on offense — particularly in Sunday’s match-up.
“It was very disappointing losing to Villanova because I felt like we were the better team out there,” Mora said. “We just didn’t put away our opportunities. They only had like three or four opportunities and one clear one, and the guy put it away. We weren’t able to come back.”
State fired a total of 22 shots against Villanova — 16 in the second half alone — yet failed to score a goal the entire match. The team is still searching for a “true forward,” Mora said, and will tinker with the starting lineup in today’s contest against the Golden Eagles.
“The coach is going to make some changes,” Mora said. “He is going to look to put [midfielder El Hadj] Cisse up top and see if he can create more of a presence and help us out — score some goals. Right now we’re not being that productive.”
The Pack is 3-1 all-time against Georgia Southern, but hasn’t faced the squad since 2003 when it came away with a 4-2 victory.
Last year, first-year coach Kevin Kennedy led the Golden Eagles to a 10-6-3 overall record and posted a second-place finish in the Southern Conference. However, Georgia Southern is only 1-3 this year, having dropped its last three contests.
According to senior defender and co-captain, Hugh Cronin, the team is making positive strides and hopes the new lineup for today’s game will cure its anemic offense.
“I think defensively we’re doing all right,” Cronin said. “We need to find a combination that’s going to work up top — just so we can put in some goals.”
Goalkeeper Christopher Widman — a redshirt sophomore, recently recorded a career high 11 saves in Friday’s contest against St. Louis. For his efforts this past weekend, Widman was named to the all-tournament team alongside Mora.
Meanwhile, the Pack may see another change in its starting lineup for tonight’s home contest.
Sophomore midfielder, Alan Sanchez — who has started every contest and led the team last season in both goals (8) and points (17) — was injured in Sunday’s contest against Villanova. Sanchez said he has a “first degree ankle sprain” and will be at “80 percent” for today’s game.
In order to pull out a victory against Georgia Southern, sophomore forward Ben Ward said the team needs to “play more organized.” And according to Sanchez, the team will approach the contest with the same mindset it’s had all season.
“We’re just going to try to do what we do every game,” Sanchez said. “We’re going to try to work as a team, try to score and win.”