September 10, 2024
Raleigh, NC– On Tuesday night, the newly ranked NC State Men’s Soccer team (4-0-1,1-0) returned to action at the Dail Soccer Complex. The Wolfpack came in to the match riding a 3-game winning streak and sharing the best record in the ACC. The Wolfpack came in undefeated against the visiting Winthrop Eagles (1-4-1, 0-0) winning all 8 previous matchups. The last time these 2 teams met though was in 2009. The Wolfpack have dominated the scoring as well with a 32-4 lead in the goals scored department against the Eagles.
The first 15 minutes of the match saw several shots from both sides, however neither side was able to break through. The first goal of the match was scored by Taig Healy for his 3rd goal of the season. The goal gave Healy the team lead. Healy netted one off of a rebound shot. NC State was not short on chances prior to the goal as they had 10 shots before the 11th struck the net. It was the 5th shot on goal for the Wolfpack who had missed on 2 crossbar chances earlier in the match.
The Wolfpack wasted no time notching the 2nd goal of the night in the 32nd minute by Donavan Phillip. The goal came off initial pressure by Hakim Karamoko. That initial pressure landed right on the foot of Donavan who put it home to give the Pack the 2-0 lead. The Pack would strike again to extend the lead to 3-0 in the 40th minute as Drew Lovelace would tack on another before the end of the half. The Wolfpack would carry the 3-0 lead into the half giving them their largest halftime lead of the season.
The Wolfpack ended the half with 20 total shots and 9 shots on goal. The Eagles ended the half with 4 shots and just 1 shot on goal. The consistent offensive pressure by the Wolfpack was overwhelming and proved too much for the Eagles.
The second half was more of the same pressure from the Wolfpack offense. They would begin the half in the first 20 minutes with 7 more shots. The pressure was consistent throughout the night in both halves for the Wolfpack as they were able to hold the Eagles scoreless through the night. Goaltender Enzo Carvalho was only asked to make 2 saves in the first 66 minutes of the match.
The Wolfpack also owned the time of possession throughout the match spending much of the time in the Eagles half of the field. In the early going of the season, this has become a staple of Head Coach Marc Hubbard’s system. Throughout the match, the backline of the defense was seen protecting at the midfield line. Very rarely do you find defensive personnel in soccer playing as far up as the Wolfpack displayed tonight.
The Wolfpack would strike for the 4th time on the night with the goal from Junior Nare on the assist from Lawson Abass. The shot was the 10th shot on goal for the Wolfpack. The Wolfpack would extend the lead to 5-0 a little over 2 minutes later in the 73rd minute on the first career goal from Aidan Payne. Eitan Rosen was the assist player on this goal. The Wolfpack received 5 goals from 5 different goal scorers to take the 5-0 lead. They would add a 6th goal just minutes later in the 77th minute. The goal was scored by Ervin Cruz and assisted by Aidan Payne. The Pack would add a 7th final goal of the night by Sam Presser assisted by Ervin Cruz.
Head Coach Marc Hubbard joined the media following the 7-0 win and gave his thoughts on being able to play some of the younger bench players:
“Being able to get that halftime lead allowed us to sort of empty the bench and give all of the guys some minutes and balance some rests with all of the games we have coming up. It’s good to see those opportunities and that’s what we’re looking for. “
Junior Taig Healy also met with the media following the game to give his thoughts on the team playing aggressive for 90 minutes:
“I said before the second half, because we had a fantastic first half, that we all have one common goal is just to keep the level of play up because no matter how many minutes you’re playing, we should want to make a statement to the rest of the country. “
NC State is certainly beginning to make a STATEment and putting the rest of the ACC on notice.
Next up for NC State is a Friday night Matchup with Stetson at 6PM EST at Dail Soccer Complex.
