NC State men’s soccer dropped its fourth straight game to start its season with a 2-1 loss against the Navy Midshipmen on Sunday night.
The Wolfpack had a strong start to the game, keeping the majority of the possession in Navy’s own half. Junior forward Kuda Muskwe returned as a starter for NC State after missing two games due to COVID-19 contact tracing and provided the lone goal for the Wolfpack. But the Midshipmen fought back to equalize and then take the lead before the half, which led to a hard-fought scoreless second half.
“I feel like we’re in week two as far as having everybody available,” said head coach George Kiefer. “I think we started the game well, but then there’s a lull to it, and then I thought the second half was some of the best stuff we’ve played. [We] just couldn’t pick the right pass out or play the right guy in or move the right way just to finish it.”
The Pack controlled the ball well early, creating two good chances for junior forward Ivy Brisma but the first sailed high of the bar and the second was stopped by Navy’s goalkeeper, Ian Bramblett.
After another run by Brisma that resulted in a foul, NC State scored the first goal of the match in the 29th minute with a penalty kick from Muskwe, who was able to slide the ball just to the right of the keeper into the back of the net.
“There’s not really any thought to it, it’s something I’ve worked on for a while,” Muskwe said. “That’s just how I take PKs. I went up and had a job to do and I just did it. It was just about the mental game between me and the goalkeeper and just making sure I got a goal and beat him. I was just taking my time with it, little mind games.”
However, Navy was able to respond quickly, tying the match at 1-1 with a goal in the 37th minute off a corner kick, and then took the lead with another goal in the 39th minute with a penalty kick. While redshirt junior goalkeeper Leon Krapf dove the correct way, saving the shot and making a great play, the rebound was finished by Navy.
At the half with Navy up 2-1, the Midshipmen led 8-6 in shots, 4-2 in shots on goal and 3-2 in corner kicks. Then, the action-packed first half completely reversed in the second 45 as neither team was able to get much going, highlighted by a number of good defensive plays by junior defender Parker Cross.
Even with lots of opportunities presented by the Wolfpack, the game came to an end with the same score that ended the first half.
“We need to continue with the play we had in the second half,” Kiefer said. “You can’t carry each game into the next, a great game Friday night against an excellent team that you know is going to come at you, they’re not going to sit back.”
NC State takes the pitch again on Friday, Oct. 23 hosting Clemson, one of the top programs in the country that just beat Wake Forest 2-1 after losing to UNC 1-0 the game prior. In fact, the ACC currently holds four of the top five ranked teams in the country and Clemson is surely close behind.
“The ACC is the best conference out there so we have to bring our best so now it’s tomorrow,” Muskwe said. “Now we focus on tomorrow and being better tomorrow… Walking away from this one taking the positives and then focusing on what wasn’t right and how it can be better.”
