No. 13 N.C. State poured on the offense and stayed tight on defense en route to a shutout win over Centenary University, 5-0, on a chilly, wet Tuesday night.
The game did not start off productively for either side, as both teams were unable to score. State could not build any of its momentum through scoring drives as it received five offsides penalties during the first half.
One of those calls thwarted a great scoring opportunity for forward Ronnie Bouemboue. Midfielder Frederico Nachmann had the first look at the goal at the 40th minute, but missed it wide right. Nachmann had another shot on goal three minutes later.
Midfielder Chris Zuerner, Kris Byrd, Akil DeFreitas, and Alan Sanchez also had scoring chances, but couldn’t connect during the first half.
Meanwhile, the Pack’s defensive lockdown was still intact, as Centenary only had one shot on goal from midfielder John McHugh and remained scoreless.
“We understood [we had the] first half under control, and we made a couple of good decisions. [Assistant coach Chris] Popik made a couple of adjustments,” coach George Tarantini said.
Defenseman Tyler Lassiter, who has strong statistical season with the Pack, sat out the game after earning a league suspension against High Point last week. He is eligible to return to play Friday.
Despite having Lassiter out, the home team came out of the gates running at the beginning of the second half and scored on Centenary early. At 48 minutes, midfielder Alan Sanchez broke the stalemate with a goal assisted by Zuerner and Nachmann.
From that point on, State took control of the game. At 60 minutes, Byrd scored a goal set up by Bouemboue and Nachmann.
“We keep our [heads] up, we knock the ball around, we look for the open man and try to finish it. But my assist to [Kris Byrd] was a head up and a slide in,”Bouemboue said.
State continued to pour it on throughout the rest of the game, scoring another three goals. Bouemboue added a goal of his own at the 71th minutes. Sanchez and Byrd earned the assists.
“It was just hard work overall and simple play that we work on. It’s just a one-two give and go when we get in the box, but all in all its hard work from everyone and I just put the finishing touch on it,” Bouemboue said.
Towards the end of the game, the coaches decided to let the bench get in on the action. Forward Amar Brkic scored during the 81st minute of the game off an assist from Lucas Carpenter. He scored another goal eight minutes later assisted by midfielder Bryan Booth.
Coach Dan Popik thought the bench elevated the team’s play during the closing minutes of the game.
“Its always good to get as many guys in the game as you can. The guys have been working hard in practice, and I’m glad we got an opportunity to reward them,” Popik said.
Bouemboue also had positive thoughts of the bench’s play at the end of the game.
“We are [going to] rely on these guys in the next coming years, even the next coming game. These guys have been stepping up in practice a lot and it’s great to see that their hard work is paying off,” Bouemboue said
Goalkeeper Christopher Widman also came through with a big game, posting his sixth shutout of the season.
“Chris is having a great year. Our team defense is playing well — it’s partly the goalkeeper and partly the team defense,” Popik said.
The Pack will play again Friday against ACC foe Clemson at Dail Soccer Stadium.
