After a loss to UNC Greensboro last year, the men’s soccer team needed to not only come back in the second half, but also to add a few extra goals in order to beat the Spartans, 3-1, last night at the Dail Soccer field.
The Spartans took over the first half. The team took the first shot at the 27:18 mark and would go into halftime with an 1-0 lead against the Wolfpack.
Redshirt senior forward Ronnie Bouemboue said the coaches didn’t need to say anything to the team at the half.
“We put it upon ourselves. We’ve been working hard all preaseason,” Bouemboue said. “It’s not so much the coaches said anything; the players themselves picked it up and we showed up on the field in the second half.”
Bouemboue led the way in the second half by scoring the Pack’s first goal off a free kick from 20 yards out, giving each team one goal, apiece. But the Pack would separate themselves three minutes later with a goal from senior midfielder Federico Nachmann. Nachmann said there was nothing fancy about his goal, but that the team’s attitude change in the second half set the tone for the rest of the game.
“We needed to change our attitude, and we needed to play fast,” Nachmann said. “The midfield should be more together and compact. That is where the game was, battling in the midfield and then playing good ball to our forwards so we can score.”
The team would get its final goal in the 69th minute from Bouemboue once again, with Sanchez providing another assist. Bouemboue said his team wanted him to take some shots at the goal.
“My teammates had confidence in me to take the first shot,” Bouemboue said. “The second goal was something the guys wanted me to do all year – take my shot.”
Though Bouemboue had two goals, he also received a yellow card in the second half after running into the Spartans goalie. Bouemboue took full responsibility.
“I should have stopped when the goalie came up with the ball,” Bouemboue said. “I got a little excited going for the ball. I thought I was going to get it. But I will take fault for that.”
Though it was an exhibition game, assistant coach Dan Popik was pleased with the teams adjustment in the second half and said he knows the team will need to do a number of things to get ready for the regular season.
“It was our first time we’ve come out here and competed against somebody,” Popik said. “It took us a little longer than we would have liked to adjusted. With that being said, these guys have worked hard, we been having two-a-days up until this game so we had some tired legs but in the second half, I think all our hard work and fitness paid off.”
The team will open its season against Winthrop next Tuesday and hopes the win tonight will keep the fans coming, according to Nachmann.
“The one important thing was not to disappoint this crowd,” Nachmann said. “It was a big crowd, it was amazing. We want them to keep on coming so the only way to allow it was to win the game.”
