No. 5 NC State men’s soccer opened its ACC championship bid with a commanding 3-0 win over Louisville, earning a chance to host one more ACC tournament game.
To begin the tournament, the No. 3 seed Wolfpack (12-1-4, 4-1-3 ACC) ate away at the No. 14 seed Cardinals (5-7-5, 1-5-2 ACC) and showed once again that it can handle weaker opponents. Up until the final minute, the Pack remained on the front foot, continuing the trends that had played out all game — lasting offensive-zone time and high shot volume — finishing with 20 shots compared to Louisville’s four.
NC State found the scoreboard early in the 22nd minute when senior defender Calem Tommy drove towards the inline and fired a crosser through the center of the box. Senior midfielder Drew Lovelace was first to it, and rolled it into the back of the net for an early lead.
“[Justin Mclean] had kind of wandered over to my side, and so I was starting to go over to his side,” Lovelace said. “And they ended up slipping [Tommy] through, and I just made a run in the box. Great ball by [Tommy] and it was able to squeeze past everybody, find me right in front of the goal, easy finish.”
Before the end of the second half, sixth-year midfielder Carlos Santamaria doubled the Pack’s lead in the 40th minute, controlling a deflected cross with a soft first touch and firing it past the Cardinal’s goalkeeper.
NC State controlled first-half possession time and converted both of its shots on goal, earning its halftime lead. The visiting Cardinals struggled to threaten the Pack’s goal, only managing one shot on target.
Fifth-year midfielder Thomas Lamaille scored the final goal of the match — his first of the season — in the 86th minute, securing the Wolfpack’s advance to the quarterfinals.
Notably, junior forward Donavan Phillip had a one-on-one with Cardinals redshirt junior goalkeeper Alex Svetanoff in the 58th minute, but the goalkeeper made himself big and kept Phillip off the scoresheet. Phillip hasn’t scored since Oct. 17, when he netted one on the road against Notre Dame. Still in a tie as the nation’s leading goalscorer with 15, the Saint Lucia native has cooled off in the back half of the season, but remains a threat on offense.
After the win, the Pack will host another conference tournament game. The tournament opens with its first two rounds played at campus sites, with the higher seeds hosting. Then, the final four teams will face off in Cary, North Carolina, at WakeMed Soccer Park.
But the Pack can’t get too far ahead of itself. First, it must take out No. 6 seed Syracuse, whom it drew with 1-1 just a week ago on Oct. 31. The match is set for Sunday at Dail Soccer Stadium, kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
“You’re only as good as your last game,” said head coach Marc Hubbard. “I think we can take some confidence, knowing from the last game, that we can come to this with a little bit more health and a little bit more player availability and get to Cary.”
