The NC State men’s soccer team lost its home finale 3-0 to the No. 13 University of Louisville Cardinals Sunday afternoon at Dail Soccer Stadium in Raleigh.
The contest kicked off with both teams playing evenly. In the 17th minute, NC State took advantage of a swift counter attack and was first to create a real threat on goal.
Senior Travis Wannemuehler played a crisp through ball to sophomore defender Simon Blotko. Though Blotko’s low-curling shot beat the outstretched arm of Louisville keeper Stefan Cleveland, it also travelled a few inches wide of the far left post.
Despite accumulating many fouls early on, the Wolfpack continued to test Louisville’s defense with countless other fast breaks.
Additionally, the Wolfpack was able to effectively neutralize forward Mohamed Thiaw, Louisville’s top scorer this season.
“I think we started strong in the game,” sophomore Julius Duchscherer said. “Especially in the first half, we had some really good chances. We should have capitalized from them.”
After 20 minutes of play, the Cardinals became more patient, limited the Wolfpack’s goal-scoring chances and cultivated a handful of goal scoring opportunities.
Louisville’s best chance of the half came in the 22nd minute when forward Tate Schmitt’s long-range shot sailed just a fraction over the crossbar.
The remainder of the first half was rather dormant, as both teams continued probing at the other’s defense in an effort to pick out a goal scoring opportunity. At the halftime whistle, the Wolfpack entered the break in a scoreless draw.
The even scoreline mirrored the flow of play as well, as both teams tallied five shots a piece on net.
Entering the second half of play, Louisville picked up its tempo and began asking more questions of the Wolfpack’s defense.
In the 51st minute, Louisville’s pressure paid off as it finally broke the deadlock and scored the game’s first goal. A swinging cross from midfielder Geoffrey Dee found Thiaw, who was able to direct his header to the upper left corner and beyond the reach of Wolfpack keeper Alex McCauley.
The goal also marked the end of a two-game clean sheet streak for the Pack.
This breakthrough only sparked more aggression from the Cardinals. Ten minutes later, Louisville went on to double its advantage when Dee punished the Wolfpack defense for its defensive error. A brief lapse in concentration gave Dee the ball just yards in front of the Wolfpack net.
“I was a little frustrated with giving [away] another goal,” head coach Kelly Findley said. “I thought we had some chances in between their first goals.”
Despite falling behind 2-0, the Wolfpack continued to seek out a goal that would put the game back into contention.
The Pack almost found that goal in the 76th minute when sophomore midfielder Julius Duchscherer sent his long-range screamer off of the Cardinal crossbar.
After fifteen minutes of back-and-forth play, Louisville went on to place the game well beyond reach.
“I would’ve liked to see 1 or 2 to 0 turn to 2-1 and make it an interesting last 15 minutes,” Findley said. “But it didn’t happen and sometimes the game goes like that.”
In the 90th minute, defender Tim Kubel’s short-range shot landed in the back of the net after taking an advantageous deflection off a Wolfpack defender.
Ultimately, the Cardinal’s second-half surge, in which they outshot the Pack 8-2, was too much to overcome for the Wolfpack.
“I think this game seemed similar to Clemson to be honest,” Findley said. “There was nothing in the game … I thought we were good in the first half, but they were a little stronger in the second half and probably deserved to get some goals.”
Next up, the Wolfpack will travel up to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts where it will take on Boston College in its last regular season game before the ACC tournament.
“I think we’re very similar to Boston College, our personnel is similar,” Findley said. “Dealing with conditions will be interesting. We’re going to go from a beautiful day in North Carolina to who knows what you’re going to get in Boston this time of year … I think we have to make sure we deal with that and we talk about [this] a lot: playing to a standard. Regardless of if it’s 1:00 on a Sunday afternoon or pouring down rain in Boston, so I don’t expect a change much.”
