After missing the past five games with a foot injury, senior midfielder Nazmi Albadawi scored twice as N.C. State fought past Virginia Tech, 3-2, on Friday night at the Dail Soccer Stadium.
Albadawi also notched an assist as State jumped into eighth place in the ACC standings, giving the Wolfpack the inside track to make the ACC Tournament on Nov. 12-17.
State (6-4-4, 2-4-3 ACC) scored the first three goals of the match, including two in the first half, to take a 3-0 lead. The Hokies scored twice in 12 minutes to narrow the deposit to one, but the Pack’s defense held strong in the final minutes to secure the much-needed win.
“We had a good performance,” head coach Kelly Findley said. “I was not happy with the way we finished it but to be up 3-0 and managing the game, I was pleased.”
“I feel bad for him [Albadawi] that he has been injured,” Findley said. “But the good news is that we have him back, and we’re in a good position to finish strong through the rest of the year. Naz [Albadawi] will play a big part in that.”
After having trouble finding the net to start the season, State has found its scoring touch in recent games. The Pack has scored five goals in its last two matches, compared to its season average of 1.5 goals per game.
State takes on Appalachian State on Tuesday at the Dail Soccer Stadium in its final home match of the season.
The Wolfpack struck first against the Hokies in the 21st minute. Redshirt junior forward Nick Surkamp tallied his sixth goal of the season. Junior defender Clement Simonin launched a long ball toward Albadawi in the center of the field. The senior skillfully controlled the ball in the air and laid off a pass to the wide-open Surkamp.
From 25 yards out, Surkamp curled his right-footed shot around the goalkeeper and into the net after deflecting off the right post.
Just 10 minutes later, Albadawi doubled the Pack’s lead. Senior midfielder Alex Martinez dribbled into the center and threaded a through ball in behind Tech’s defense for the onrushing Albadawi. The Raleigh native made no mistake on the finish, blasting his close range shot past the Hokies’ stranded ‘keeper.
“You love to score in general, but it’s different when you’re at home when you play in front of your school,” Albadawi said. “It was a great feeling.”
Albadawi, who hadn’t scored for the Pack since Sept. 20, notched his second goal of the match in the 60th minute. The senior received a throw-in from Martinez and nailed the ball into the back of the net to give State a comfortable 3-0 lead.
State’s defense held the Hokies’ offense in check for much of the game, but in the 72nd minute, Simonin fouled a Tech attacker in the box to give the Hokies a penalty kick. After Simonin received a yellow card for his foul, Hokie senior midfielder Robert Alberti converted the penalty and sparked a late comeback bid.
Alberti netted his second goal of the match in the 85th minute, but State’s defense held solid in the closing minutes to clinch the 3-2 win.
“For the most part, I didn’t have a job today because our defense did a great job,” senior goalkeeper Fabian Otte said. “The last minutes were horror on the field, but that’s what we play for. It’s actually a good feeling to get the win after that even though it was really stressful.”
“I was confident in the team’s defense,” Albadawi said. “Stuff like that happens in soccer all the time, but there was no doubt in my mind that we were going to win the game.”
