No. 3 Clemson men’s soccer left Raleigh with a 1-0 win over NC State Friday night despite the Pack playing well enough to cash in an upset against a hard-pressing, top-five team.
The massive bright spot for NC State (0-5, 0-4 ACC) was the unbelievable play of redshirt junior goalie Leon Krapf, who recorded a career-high seven saves on Clemson’s (5-1, 3-1 ACC) 14 shots. If it wasn’t for the potential offsides miscall on Clemson’s goal, he’d have a blank sheet to his name.
“Soccer can be brutal,” Krapf said. “I think I had six or seven saves, but at the end of the day, we can’t get anything for saves. We want to score goals so I feel a little disappointed for the guys, because they put a tremendous effort in tonight.”
Five of Krapf’s seven saves came in the first 25 minutes, including a sequence of a free kick from the edge of the box and a corner kick from Clemson’s relentless offensive pursuit.
“To press well, you have to commit a lot of guys around the ball, so that’s their strengths,” said head coach George Kiefer. “Where’s their weakness? It’s away from those plays… A little more maturity in the attacking half of the field would go a long way. Clemson’s not the type of team that likes to but pushed back.”
The Pack was unable to get much going on the Tigers’ side of the field, putting up just two shots in the first 26 minutes compared to Clemson’s eight. The two shots came from sophomore defender Pablo Pedregosa in the second minute and junior forward Ivy Brisma in the 26th.
After the early chances for Clemson, there was a whole lot of nothing until halftime, when Clemson led NC State 9-2 in shots and 6-1 in shots on goal. Krapf was a saving grace with the Wolfpack struggling to put pressure on the other side.
Half two started as much of the same defensive battle until Clemson found the net in the 63rd minute. Krapf came out of the box to stop Clemson’s Grayson Barber but Barber made a move and rolled it in. Many Pack players were adamant about Barber being offside, and they had a good case for it, but nothing came of the arguing, so Clemson took a 1-0 lead.
“One bad decision from me on the goal. It happens, that’s soccer, it’s the goalkeeper life,” Krapf said. “…I don’t get involved in referee decisions. I never pay any attention to that. I’m locked in to what I have to do and I could’ve done a better job… My decision was to go out and get the ball before the striker gets there, was the wrong decision. Striker gets there before me and gets around me.”
Unfortunately, for a defense that had been so good all night, the goal created a lot of possession for the Tigers, but as the second half began to wind down, Krapf continued to come up with big stops, including a one-handed block in the 75th minute.
Approaching the last moments of the game, NC State entered desperation mode as they managed three shots within the last five minutes of play. One shot came off of a free kick by senior midfielder Brad Sweeney, who managed to get a favorable deflection off of Clemson’s wall. The shot was saved miraculously by Clemson keeper George Marks. Another opportunity came in the last minute as well for Pau Palacin, whose shot was deflected by a Clemson defender.
A scuffle broke out at the end of the game following a hard foul by Clemson forward Grayson Barber on a Pack player. Tensions were already high after Wolfpack players were making a case for a handball on Palacin’s last second attempt. Barber managed to get away with only a yellow card from the altercation which prompted Kiefer to comment on the difference in the way Pack players are treated compared to those of top-tier programs like Clemson.
“If one of my players did that, he probably would’ve got a red card,” Kiefer said. “I really believe that, which is unfortunate… I don’t know why he did what he did there. He’s got a bright future but that could hurt his team. He could’ve been out for the next one for sure.”
Clemson’s defense was not perfect, making a number of mistakes in transition, but the Wolfpack failed to capitalize on some good second-half opportunities. Six NC State players ended with a shot and the team was left with four shots on goal but nothing in the column that really matters.
The schedule does not get any easier for the Wolfpack men’s soccer team as it travels to Chapel Hill to face No. 5 North Carolina on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. Then, its final regular-season game comes at home at the hands of No. 2 Wake Forest.
“Not a lot of teams can play out with a team pressing you like that and I thought we did a really good job of that, so now we have a whole week to prepare,” Kiefer said. “Carolina will be relentless in their presses as well, so once we break the press, can we get better off of it.”
