North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Playing Strong in Spring
4/11/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
April 11, 2005
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State men's soccer team is in the midst of its spring schedule, and has come out of the first two games with impressive results. The Pack currently holds a 1-0-1 record going into its last weekend of spring games. NC State traveled over to Duke last weekend and finished with a 0-0 tie against a Blue Devils squad that reached the Final Four last year. This past weekend, NC State headed down to South Carolina and came home with a 2-0 win over another NCAA Tournament team from last season.
Against the Gamecocks, NC State scored goals in each half and put together a strong defensive performance to record the shutout for the second straight week. Bryant Salter notched the Pack's first goal of the day off of assists from John Queeley and Rami Ghanayem. Ghanayem took a free kick from midfield that found Queeley deep in the USC penalty box. Queeley headed the ball off the back line over to Bryant, who then headed in the goal. The Pack's second goal was a hustle play by Ernesto Di Laudo. USC's keeper tried to clear the ball away from his goal, but Di Laudo challenged the kick, and the ball deflected off Di Laudo and into the South Carolina goal.
At South Carolina, NC State won the time of possession battle and controlled the tempo, helping limit the Gamecocks offense to any quality chances on goal. The Pack's defense has stood out this spring, led by All-ACC goalie Jorge Gonzalez. El Hadj Cisse and Hugh Cronin have played strong in the middle of the defense, while Queeley and Ghanayem man the two outside positions. The defense has been strong in making quick decisions and creating more opportunities for the offense by switching the ball quicker and also by going forward and adding an extra attacker. Led by senior captain Queeley, the defense has also been well organized all spring, and has had no defensive breakdowns. With two straight shutouts the defense is playing at a very high level right now.
The men's soccer team will have one final weekend of spring games this weekend. The Pack will be in action on Sunday afternoon at SAS Soccer Stadium playing once at 11:15 then again at 1:45. The games will be shorter than regular NCAA games, but fans are welcome to come out and watch.
