North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Hosts No. 2 North Carolina Tonight
9/14/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 14, 2005
Raleigh, N.C. -
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The NC State men's soccer team will open its ACC conference play against arch rival North Carolina tonight at SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary, N.C., at 7:00 p.m. The Wolfpack (3-2) are currently riding a three-game winning streak, including picking up wins over No. 7 St. John's and College of Charleston to win the Duke/adidas Tournament last weekend. The Tar Heels (4-0), ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA Poll and No. 3 in the Soccer America Poll, have yet to give up a goal this season.
Last Time Out: NC State comes into today's matchup with North Carolina riding a three-game winning streak, after the Pack opened the season 0-2. The Pack started rolling with a 5-1 win over Mercer in the final game of the Wolfpack adidas Classic, and had an impressive showing in the Duke/adidas Tournament over the weekend.
The Pack defeated No. 7 St. John's 2-1 on Friday night, then came back and beat College of Charleston 3-1 on Sunday. NC State won the Duke/adidas Tournament, being the only school to finish 2-0 over the weekend. With the two wins, NC State defeated two NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
The Pack finished with four members on the all-tournament team. Forwards Aaron King and Bryant Salter, midfielder John Queeley and defender Rami Ghanayem were all cited, and Salter earned MVP honors.
Vs. No. 7 St. John's: NC State pulled out a dramatic 2-1 win over No. 7 St. John's in the first game of the Duke/adidas Tournament. Junior Matthew Lytle netted his first career goal with just five seconds remaining for the Wolfpack to complete the second half comeback. After trailing 1-0 at the half, NC State used two goals in the last seven minutes of the game for the non-conference win over national power St. John's.
The Pack's first goal started when Bryant Salter hustled in the Red Storm's end of the field, stole a pass and took the ball into the right corner of the penalty box. He slid a shot towards the lower left corner of the goal putting the shot past St. John's keeper, and just as the ball was about to be cleared off the back line, the Pack's Aaron King came in and netted the goal at the 83:54 mark.
Just as the game appeared to be heading into overtime, NC State would score the game winner and come away with a win over a top-10 team. Hugh Cronin lined up a free kick at the 50-yd line, and sent the ball to the top of St. John's 18-yard line. Cronin's cross found junior Haddon Kirk who was able to get a touch on the ball and direct it to Lytle, who struck a hard shot in the upper corner of the net for the game winner. The goal came at the 89:55 mark.
NC State outshot the Red Storm on the day 19-13. Aaron Sanders picked up the win in goal for the Pack, making two saves.
Vs. College of Charleston: The Pack scored in the 15th minute and added two goals in the second half to defeat the Cougars, 3-1. For the Pack's first goal, John Queeley found Bryant Salter in the box, and Salter one-timed the ball over to El Hadj Cisse to finish the play off.
Queeley would score the eventual game winner in the 64th minute. His goal was set up when Cisse played a long ball to Salter that lead to a breakaway. Salter was fouled from behind at the top of the 18-yard line, resulting in a Pack free kick. Queeley took the ensuing free kick and put the ball around the defensive wall and into the net. NC State would add an insurance goal in the 78th minute. Santiago Fusilier found Salter on the right wing and Salter once found Aaron King was all alone to net the goal.
Jorge Gonzalez returned to the Wolfpack net, and recorded five saves for his first win of the season. NC State won the shot count 20-13.
Salter Named to College Soccer News' Team of the Week: Senior Bryant Salter has been named to the College Soccer News' Team of the Week for his performance this past weekend in the Duke/adidas Classic. Salter, the tournament's MVP, helped the Pack down No. 7 St. John's 2-1 and College of Charleston 3-1 and capture the tournament title, as NC State was the only team to go 2-0.
Salter had a hand in four of the Wolfpack's five goals over the weekend. Against St. John's on Friday night, Salter assisted on the Pack's first goal of the game. Salter had an even more impressive day on in the win over College of Charleston, as he was credited with two assists and was fouled on a breakaway that led to the gamewinner.
Also on the site, the Pack makes its first appearance in the site's top-30 poll. This week NC State checks in at No. 29. Two teams NC State has already faced this season are No. 7 St. John's and No. 19 Old Dominion.
NC State Versus North Carolina: North Carolina leads the all-time series 41-19-10 with NC State. The Tar Heels are 8-0-2 in the last 10 match-ups, with NC State's last win coming in 1997 (3-1) in a game at Method Road. Today's game marks the third straight year the two squads have faced each other at SAS Soccer Stadium, as the Pack and Tar Heels have played in each of the last two ACC Tournaments.
Last season UNC won both during the regular season and in the ACC Tournament 2-0. In the conference game, the Tar Heels defeated NC State 2-0 in Chapel Hill. UNC got on the scoreboard early with a goal off a free kick in the eighth minute, and added a second goal right before the half. The game was close as NC State held the shot advantage 15-14, and had a goal called back due to a foul in the first half. The two teams faced off again in the ACC Tournament at SAS, with UNC again prevailing 2-0. After a scoreless first half, the Tar Heels scored in the 73rd and 81st minutes, and held the NC State offense to just five shots.
The two sqauds put on two thrilling games in 2003. Both games would be tied at the end of overtime, and in the ACC Tournament the Pack advanced on penalty kicks.
In the quarterfinals, the two teams would battle to a scoreless tie, then go to PKs. NC State's first shot rung off the post, which helped give UNC a 2-1 lead after two rounds. After the Pack scored in back-to-back rounds, it was keeper Jorge Gonzalez that came up big stopping a shot in the third round to make it 2-2. The two teams exchanged goals in the fourth, then NC State's Bryant Salter gave NC State the lead with his PK, making it 4-3 NCSU. Gonzalez then saved his second PK of the day.
Earlier that season in a game at Method Road, North Carolina came into the contest ranked No. 3 nationally, and the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie. The contest featured 50 fouls, six yellow cards and two red cards.
Pack Against Ranked Teams: The Wolfpack posted a mark of 1-0-2 against teams that were in the top-10 at the time of the game last year. NC State defeated No. 6 Duke, 1-0, at Method Road and tied then-No. 2 Maryland (1-1) at SAS. The Pack also came away with a tie at future ACC foe then-No. 10 Boston College 0-0.
NC State also had success against ranked foes in 2003, finishing 2-0-1 against ranked foes in home ACC games. The Pack defeated No. 24 Clemson 2-0 then No. 7 Virginia 1-0, and played No. 3 North Carolina to a 1-1 tie.
Must Score to Win: Coach Tarantini loves to say you can't win games unless you score goals. Although that is simple to understand, it could not be more true for the Wolfpack so far this season.
NC State started the season 0-2, and in those two games the Pack only scored one goal in each. During the current three-game winning streak, the Pack has scored 10 goals. Maybe even more telling than the scoring in games, is the scoring by halves. NC State has just two first half goals on the season, but has 10 in the second 45-minutes.
The Pack offense will be put to the test against UNC, the Tar Heels have yet to give up a goal in the first four games of the season.
King Playing Like a King: Being a two-time All-ACC selection, senior Aaron King knew he was a marked man this season. He led NC State with 11 goals last season. King scored seven goals in the final eight games, and had seven of the final nine goals on the year.
King has picked up right where he left off the last few seasons, as he has scored in every game thus far. His average of a goal a contest currently ranks second in the ACC this week. But the NC State offense has no relied solely on King's goals, as he has yet to notch a gamewinner.
Goalie Switch: New goalkeepers coach Dan Popik came into the job knowing he had two quality keepers in seniors Jorge Gonzalez and Aaron Sanders. Gonzalez was named All-ACC first-team last year, and Sanders was an all-conference selection at Coastal Carolina before transferring to NC State. The problem might be both are too good to keep off the field so the netminders have split time thus far.
Gonzalez started the season in goal, but went 0-2 as the Pack fell at No. 22 Old Dominion and to Fairfield in overtime. So enter Sanders who started the next two contests, against Mercer and No. 7 St. John's, and he won both those games. The switch was back on Sunday, as Gonzalez picked up the win over College of Charleston.
Pack Finds Starters: Despite the Pack switching keepers, the other starters seem to be set. Seniors Aaron King and Bryant Salter are the forwards. El Hadj Cisse and Santiago Fusilier are the center midfielders, with John Queeley and Ernesto Di Laudo on the outside. The back line is Hugh Cronin and Haddon Kirk in the middle, and Rami Ghanayem and Ronnie Bouemboue start on the outside.
