NC State men’s soccer took down the Loyola Greyhounds by a score of 2-1 in the team’s season opener on Friday night but the result came at a cost.
Junior goalkeeper Leon Krapf went down injured with 36 minutes left in the second half after the goalkeeper rushed out of his box to attempt to stop a breakaway. The Greyhounds managed to get around Krapf and had an open net but the chance was missed by Josh Fawole.
Head coach George Kiefer did not have an update on the keeper after the game but did say that Krapf was ‘feeling good’ when the coach asked him. Krapf played every minute of the 2018 season for the Wolfpack, making 59 saves and recording seven clean sheets. If the keeper is out for any significant amount of time, it is a big blow to the Wolfpack.
The Wolfpack (1-0-0) thoroughly dominated the Greyhounds (0-1-0) in the first half outshooting them 10-0 in the half. Despite the wealth of chances and clearly controlling the game, the Pack could not breakthrough in the first half.
“I thought we were doing a good job and I thought we were creating some good chances,” Kiefer said. “I just would like to see a bit more movement behind their back four. Runs into deeper pockets to turn them a little bit and I thought all and all the first half was good. I walk away liking about 65 minutes of the match and for the first game of the year I am really pleased with the guys.”
The break eventually came for the Pack with 32 minutes left in the second half with junior transfer center back Jamie Smith rising above the rest to nod home a header. The assists on the goal were given to midfielders junior David Loera and senior Tyler Gabarra
“We worked on that in training and I wanted to get some more goals in my game as a defender,” Smith said. “Obviously getting up at that back post and knocking one in with my head is always good as a defender. The one the week before was obviously a freekick. It’s always good to get on the scoresheet early and hopefully, there will be more to come as well.”
The Wolfpack doubled its advantage with 22 minutes left in the second half. Sophomore forward Kuda Muskwe scored his first goal in a Wolfpack shirt. The forward broke through the defensive line after taking the ball off a defender and finished it past the Loyola keeper as calmly as a seasoned veteran.
“We watched game footage before and [that defender] didn’t look too confident on it when he got the ball,” Muskwe said. “I thought ‘That’s the opportunity and I’m gonna run him down,’ so I did. I managed to find myself in front of the ball and then it’s just back to basics me and [Coach] Nicholls have been working on all summer.”
Muskwe was one of a number of new faces for the Wolfpack with himself, defenders Pedro Pedregosa and Smith, midfielder George Asomani, as well as forwards Sheldon China and Tony Temple all making their debuts in an official game for the Pack. The game was also a debut for Vincent Durand, with the redshirt senior coming in for the injured Krapf.
“It was amazing, the atmosphere here is the best that I’ve seen,” Muskwe said. “Last season, I traveled to a few of the games, Wake Forest, Chapel Hill, Duke, preseason. Obviously, out here the Red Terrors are fantastic, everyone wanted me to run over there when I scored but I just wanted to celebrate in front of these guys and to see the red smoke for myself.”
Apart from all of the new personnel, Kiefer also debuted his new formation in an official match. The 3-4-2-1 which Kiefer has gone to this season is a sharp change from last season’s more standard 4-3-3 which saw the Wolfpack reach a record of 10-7-3 in 2018.
Loyola pulled one goal back with five minutes to play in the second half but it was too little too late and the game ended at 2-1 in the favor of the Wolfpack.
The Wolfpack will be back in action on Sunday at 7 p.m. as it hosts St. John’s in the second game of the weekend.
