The NC State men’s soccer dropped a 1-0 match to the William & Mary Tribe at Dail Soccer Field on Tuesday, Oct. 19. Even though the Pack did not allow a single shot in the first half and created plenty of chances for itself, one goal was all it took for the Tribe to defeat NC State.
Looking solely solely at the stat sheet, it’s hard to believe the Wolfpack (6-6-2) lost the game. It outshot Willam & Mary (5-6) 24-4 overall, including eight in shots on goal, and amassed 12 corners compared to the Tribe’s one.
“It’s just one of those nights where the ball just was not gonna go in the net,” said head coach George Kiefer. “[We’ve] scored 22 goals this year. We just couldn’t find one tonight.”
The two halves of play were completely different in that it was all Wolfpack in the former, but William & Mary came out swinging after halftime to turn the match in its favor. The shot splits made this difference evident, as the Pack outshot the Tribe 9-0 in the first half, but William & Mary held firm in the second despite State’s increased attacking effort after the opening goal.
NC State failed to capitalize on its bevy of first-half chances, largely due to a tenacious William & Mary defense. Even though the Tribe committed 16 fouls in the match, many of which provided the Pack with plenty of opportunities to score on set pieces, the Wolfpack had no answers for the physicality of the William & Mary defense.
“We tried to move the ball quick,” said senior defender Pepe Garcia. “We tried to get in behind the defense and I think we got in there. We just had to be better in the final third.”
NC State did itself no favors on offense either, with the vast majority of its attacks fizzling out in the final third. The Pack looked like a deer in the highlights when pushing forward, not knowing what to do after creating a good scoring opportunity. Even with a tremendous advantage in both total shots, State’s lack of shots on goal showed its lack of ability to finish off chances.
“I think we created enough chances,” Garcia said. “We just have to get the ball inside and score the goal.”
The Tribe pulled ahead in the 55th minute when a breakaway chance culminated in a shot that dinged off the left post and directly to a trailing attacker who slotted the ball past redshirt senior goalkeeper Leon Krapf for the game’s only goal.
The Wolfpack earned one last chance to salvage a draw in the 87th minute when a poor tackle inside the box led to a penalty kick for the Pack. Senior forward Kuda Muskwe took the penalty, but failed to even the score as the shot deflected off the crossbar and was ultimately cleared away by William & Mary. Despite a series of last-ditch efforts by NC State, the final whistle blew without an equalizer.
With two games left in the regular season, the Wolfpack will travel to Kentucky to take on the Louisville Cardinals at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 22 before one last home match against Boston College a week later.
