The NC State men’s soccer team had not won a game in the ACC going into its final game of the 2021 fall season. But after one of its wildest finishes of the season versus Boston College, the Wolfpack was able to snag its first conference victory only five days before the start of the ACC Tournament.
The Wolfpack (7-7-2, 1-5-2 ACC) will be hoping to ride that momentous victory into the end-of-season tournament as it travels to South Bend, Indiana to take on the No. 23 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-5-2, 4-2-2 ACC) in the first round on Nov. 3.
Although the Wolfpack was able to finish the season on a strong note, the team finished last in the ACC after only securing five points all season. Because of this, the Pack was given the 12th and final seed for the tournament, meaning that its road to the finals is more difficult than all others.
The Fighting Irish took home the fifth seed in the tournament after strong displays in the ACC all season, finishing with 14 points and only two losses. The second of those two came on the final day of ACC play, Oct. 29, as the Wolfpack earned its first ACC victory and the Irish subsequently took their second ACC loss, falling to UNC 3-1.
Despite losing their final match, the Irish looked dangerous in the attacking front all season long, tallying a total of 40 goals over the course of the season. That total is nearly double what the Wolfpack were able to achieve, only managing 25 total goals. Similarly, the Irish managed 10 total goals in ACC play while the Wolfpack scraped together only four.
The Wolfpack only managed 0.5 goals per game in the ACC, last across all teams, a statistic that is worrying considering the Fighting Irish were one of the best defensive teams in the ACC. Notre Dame finished with the conference best in total goals and in average goals allowed, only letting in eight total and one respectively.
In order to take down the Fighting Irish’s defensive powerhouse, the Wolfpack will need to rely on individual playmakers as well as more sound execution to propel it to victory. One of those playmakers is freshman midfielder Luke Hille, who led the Pack in total goals and points with six and 13, respectively. Hille was hurt for a large percentage of the season, managing those top numbers while playing in only seven games, less than half of the entire season. Hille is a vital part of the NC State offensive scheme and needs to be involved in front of goal in order for the Pack to find success.
Two other key players are graduate defender Jamie Smith and redshirt senior goalkeeper Leon Krapf. Smith has been a lead defender for the Pack this season, playing in all eight ACC games and scoring three goals. All three of those goals came from direct free kicks, so allowing Smith to take over in dangerous set piece locations is vital.
This season Krapf managed 42 total saves and four shutouts. Krapf will need to keep up his form in order to deny the Irish offense, who, despite being successful in the total season, averaged the second to last shots per game in the ACC, with only about nine.
If the Wolfpack can take down the fifth-ranked Irish they will move on to play the fourth-seeded Louisville Cardinals, who finished with an overall record of 10-6 and a 5-3 record in the ACC, in Louisville, Kentucky.
Just like last season, the ACC Tournament seems to outclass the NC State Wolfpack which suffered from many close defeats in one of the best conferences in the country. Despite that, the Wolfpack still has a chance to turn its season around using this ACC tournament as it begins at Notre Dame on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. on the ACC Network Extra.
