North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State Plays Maryland in Opening Round of ACC Tournament
11/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 13, 2002
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State men's soccer team will compete in the 2002 ACC Tournament this weekend at SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary, N.C. NC State's first round opponent will be #10 Maryland Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The winner will go onto play the winner of North Carolina/Clemson Friday at 8:00 p.m., and the championship game is Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
NC State In ACC Tournament: Since the ACC Tournament started in 1987, NC State holds an all-time record of 7-11-4 in the event. NC State was the runner-up in the inaugural tournament in 1987 losing to North Carolina in the finals 4-3. NC State won the 1990 ACC Tournament, the same year the Wolfpack advanced the the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. That season, NC State entered the tournament with a 3-3 mark in ACC regular season play, but downed Maryland (3-1), Clemson (3-1), and Virginia (2-1) to win the title. During the fist six years of the ACC Tournament (1987-92), NC State held a record of 7-2-4. The Wolfpack only lost once in the first round (2-1 to Duke in 1989), and was eliminated three times on penalty kicks (the game is recorded as a tie). The Pack's success has changed since then, as NCSU is 0-9 dating back to the 1993 tournament.
NC State Vs. Maryland: Maryland leads the all-time series with the Wolfpack 37-18-4, with the Terps claiming the last five contests. NC State's last win against Maryland was a 1-0 shutout during the 1997 regular season. NC State and Maryland have faced each other six previous times in the ACC Tournament, the last in 1996. NC State is 4-1-1 in those games. In 1987, the two teams tied with NC State advancing on PKs, then NC State won the next four outscoring the Terps 13-3. In 1996, Maryland won 7-0. This season, Maryland downed the Wolfpack in Raleigh 3-0 back on September 15. No.18 Maryland struck first in the 43rd minute, and the score remained 1-0 until the final six minutes when Maryland added two more goals.
SAS A Second Home: The NC State men's soccer team has been fortunate enough to have already played four games this season in the brand new SAS Soccer Stadium. Although not originally scheduled for SAS, NC State's opening two games of the 2002 season were held at the new complex. The Wolfpack dropped two tough games to Georgia Southern and Holy Cross in the Wolfpack Classic. NC State also played ACC games against Wake Forest and Duke at SAS, falling to 0-4 on the season at SAS.
Freshman Leading the Way: Throughout the season, NC State has gotten immediate contributions from its freshmen class. The top three in goals, assists, and points were all freshmen this season. Forward Aaron King led NC State with 22 points and seven goals on the season. He was the only field player to start all 18 games, and has three game-winning goals this season. King's top game was against Charleston Southern when he scored all three of the Pack's goals, including the game-winner in the first overtime. Fellow forward Bryant Salter started just eight games, but saw action in all 18. Despite just eight starts, Salter finished second in goals (six) and third in points (15). Salter had two of those goals in ACC play, at Clemson and at North Carolina. The final third of the trio is Federico Peria, a crafty midfielder. Peria led NC State with 11 assists, ranking him eighth in school history for assists in a single season. Peria also netted three goals, two against East Carolina, and finished second on the team with 17 points. Another member of the freshman class that contributed greatly was King's high school teammate John Queeley. Queeley started 16 games on the season, beginning the year in the midfield then being moved back to the sweeper position. In the season finale, Queeley scored the game-winning goal against Liberty with just five seconds remaining.
Watson Breaks School Record: Senior Mitchell Watson has been a staple in goal for NC State, starting all four seasons. Watson has 69 starts under his belt (missing only three starts with injury), and has played 6,346 career minutes. This season, Watson became NC State's all-time career leader in saves. His current four-year total stands at 436, breaking the mark set by Kris Peat (416 saves from 1984-87). Watson's last three season saves totals each rank in the top-10 in school history, and his current total of 131 is third all-time, just two away from 2nd place and 14 away from tying for the most saves in a single season (Kris Peat - 145 in 1987).
Gannon Out For Year: NC State suffered a major injury midway through the year when junior Chris Gannon went down with an ankle injury in practice and was lost for the season. Gannon had made 10 starts on the year through 11 games, mostly playing a defensive midfielder role. He scored a goal and added an assist in the Pack's win over Radford, and finished the season with three points and 12 shots on goal. Gannon came to NC State with high accolades after playing two seasons at Nassau Community College. He scored 32 goals and added 36 assists in his two seasons at Nassau, and was a first-team All-American last year and a season-team All-American in 2000.
Seniority: Four NC State seniors will be playing their last games at this weekend's ACC Tournament. Phillip Herndl, Michael Karim, Marcus Johnson, and Mitchell Watson all have put in four solid years for the Pack. Herndl, from Durham, has missed playing time this season with a leg injury. He has eight starts and nine games played as a defender this season. Johnson, from Baltimore, had played both stopper and sweeper for NC State. He has started all 59 games he has played in over four years, and scored his lone career goal against Wake Forest in the 1999 ACC Tournament. Karim, from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, returned to the line-up this season after missing all of last year with an ankle injury. Karim has 16 starts this year and scored two goals and added an assist. For his career, Karim has nine goals and seven assists while playing in 68 games. Watson, from Modesto, Calif., has started in goal since he arrived on campus. The school's all-time saves leader has only missed three games over his career, and is the only Wolfpack keeper to see action each of the past two season. Watson has played in 69 games for NC State, logging an incredible 6,346 minutes of action.
Playing Ranked Teams: Going into its first round game against #10 Maryland, NC State has already faced a total of six ranked teams this season. Five of the six ACC teams NC State played this season were ranked. In order: #18 Maryland (0-3), #10 Clemson (2-3), #18 Virginia (0-4), #2 Wake Forest (0-2), and #23 Duke (1-3). The only ACC team not ranked when NC State played them was North Carolina, now ranked No. 14. The Pack also faced South Carolina which was ranked 14th at the Duke Adidas Tournament, and fell 2-1.
