Mother Nature still could not stop the men’s soccer team from playing Friday night and then again late Monday night against Virginia Military Institute. It was a quiet start in the stands due to another lightning delay, where the men were scheduled to start playing at 8 p.m . after the women’s soccer team, but did not have kickoff until over 90 min. later.
Family, friends and fans turned to umbrellas to try and stay out of the continuous downfall. A handful of devoted fans sported no umbrellas and instead waved flags around and tried to make up for the loss of fans because of the rain and the late Monday night.
Other than the select few of crowd cheers, all one could hear on the Dail Soccer Field were the sounds of the athletes anxious to receive the ball or communicate that the ball was coming.
But the rain and late night was not a problem for the Wolfpack . Fifteen minutes into the game, a celebration of some dance moves came after the ball was put in the back of the net by freshman midfielder Ollie Kelly with redshirt freshman forward Nazmi Albadawi with the assist.
“I’ve been practicing with the team in the changing room and just couldn’t wait to start doing [the dance move],” Kelly said with a laugh. “It feels good to get the first goal out of the way and the team up and running since we have not scored in the preseason or in our first game.”
Coach Kelly Findley likewise thought that his team executed a great performance despite the rain.
“In weather like this, anything can happen,” Findley said. “Other than the delaying of the game, I don’t think the rain impacted us any and we moved the ball well and created a chance for them when they hit the post.”
After nine failed attempts on corner kicks and 25 min. left in the game, junior mid-fielder Michael Smith executed a high corner kick directly to freshman defender Simon Cox who headed it and found the ball past the goal line seconds later.
However, this goal did not come with a dance by Cox but did come with a victory that he was pleased with.
“I do not think it mattered who scored as long as someone did score,” Cox said. “We wanted to win and I’m just happy we got our first win on the board and hopefully there’s more to come.”
State closed the game with a shutout against VMI , but the Keydets did give the Wolfpack a run for their money after several free kicks around the penalty box. One, in particular, happened to hit the post and go right past the eyes of goalkeeper Fabian Otte but was later saved by his teammate and kicked away from the penalty area to keep the game at 2-0.
The end of the rain was nowhere to be found in the game. But the end of only tying games was finally found in Monday night’s game. Coach Findley and his team agreed as well.
“I think the guys just wanted to win a game, I think we’re tired of tying so I was pleased to see the attitude, effort and commitment to go out and get a result,” Findley said. “I think we’ve played really well this preseason but I’m pleased that the guys decided to get results tonight.”
The men’s soccer team will travel to Duke this weekend for the Nike Classic, beginning play at 5 p.m . Friday against Southern Methodist University in hopes of having a third straight clean sheet.
