N.C. State kept Georgia Southern winless with a win over the Eagles, 2-0.

This game was a tale of two halves, with the first half being a stalemate and the second solely belonging to the Pack, as has often happened this season.

Missed scoring opportunities for the Pack was the main story of the first half. State’s offense was plagued by bad passes, penalties and missed shots. Midfielder Alan Sanchez missed two shots, forward Ronnie Bouemboue missed three shots and midfielder Chrystel Bakong missed one shot in the first half.

The best look came from Bouemboue at the 19th minute, but the goal was called back due to an offsides call.

“The team was relaxed in the first half, knowing that [Georgia Southern] had a losing record, and we went into the second half with a little more energy knowing that we had to take care of business,” Sanchez said.

Georgia Southern also had trouble generating any offense in the first half. Its offense had only one shot attempt by midfielder Rich Heyer in the fifth minute of the first half. The referees assessed midfielder Adam Guediri a yellow card at the 28th minute for complaining about a foul call.

“[In] first half we really struggled. We struggled to play our game,” coach George Tarantini said.

The score was tied at zero after the first half. Then, the Pack managed to turn their luck around in the second half.

Bouemboue kicked off the second half with a missed attempt on goal in the 40th minute, but the offense came alive soon after.  At the 51st minute, senior midfielder Federico Nachmann broke the tie with a goal that was assited by junior Chris Zuerner.

“It was a tough game [because] at the beginning of the game we were kinda relaxed, but then in the half of the game, we have a great talk and we put things together to pick it up for the second half,” Nachmann said.

Thirty seconds later, Sanchez scored a goal of his own, which was assisted by Bouemboue and defender Lucas Carpenter.

“At the beginning of the game, my coach told me that I had to be close to Ronnie Bouemboue, the center striker, if I wanted an opportunity to score, or to get involved in the scores and assists,” said Sanchez. “So I took what he said. There was a long ball, Ronnie chested it back to me, and I hit it one time and I scored.”

Outstanding play from goalkeeper Christopher Widman throughout the rest of the half helped seal the victory for the Pack. He finished the game with five saves. 

This was Widman’s third straight shutout.

“I think Chris is playing fantastic in the goal. I mean he’s constantly [giving] us so much confidence, so [he’s] playing terrific,” Tarantini said.

Nachmann said Widman deserves recognition for his streak of solid play.

“Widman, [for me] he was the MVP of the game. He was great. He took some great shots and their opportunities so I think he was the man of the game,” Nachman said.

The Pack will undergo its next test Saturday against ACC rival Wake Forest at Dail Soccer Stadium.