North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Hosts No. 3 Maryland Sunday Afternoon
9/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 23, 2005
Raleigh, N.C. -
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The NC State men's soccer team will return to ACC competition, playing host to No. 3 Maryland this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Method Road Soccer Complex. The Wolfpack (4-3-1, 0-1-1 ACC) are fresh off a win over visiting Elon 3-1 Wednesday afternoon. NC State is 4-1-1 over the last six games, and will be facing their fifth ranked opponent in the first nine games of the 2005 season.
The Terrapins (5-2, 1-0 ACC) are currently ranked No. 3 in the Soccer America Poll and No. 8 in the NSCAA Poll. Maryland fell at Penn State 1-0 on Wednesday night, snapping a four winning streak. In the Terp's first ACC contest, they shutout No. 12 Clemson 3-0.
Series Versus Maryland: Maryland leads the all-time series against NC State with a 40-18-5 record, including a 15-10-3 advantage in games played in Raleigh, N.C. The two squads tied last year, and that tie broke a string of eight straight wins by the Terrapins. NC State has not defeated Maryland since 1997 (at Md. 1-0), and is only 2-11-2 against the Terps dating back to the 1993 season.
Last Year Vs. Maryland: NC State battled No. 2 Maryland to a 1-1 tie last season at SAS Soccer Stadium back in mid-September. The conference opener for both squads, the Wolfpack got a goal from Aaron King in the 69th minute, while the Terps got the equalizer from Jason Garey in the 79th minute. The two teams would then exchange shots over the two overtime periods, but the game ended a draw after 110 minutes of action.
NC State struck first after junior Federico Peria gathered a clearance from the Wolfpack defense and had the ball at midfield. Peria found King on the right side, and after taking on a Terp defender, King made his way into the Maryland penalty box. King then beat Noah Palmer for his third goal in as many games at the 69:00 mark.
Maryland would even the score at the 78:49 mark after a scramble in the NC State box. Maryland's Maurice Edu took a throw-in and played it to Stephen King who found Garey for his team-leading 10th goal of the season.
The two teams played even in the first overtime period, but it was the Wolfpack who surged late and put pressure on the Maryland defense with three straight corner kicks. King almost got the gamewinner, but his shot with less then a minute left sailed just high.
Last Time Out: NC State picked up another non-conference win Wednesday afternoon, defeating visiting Elon 3-1. The Pack used three second half goals, including a pair just three minutes apart, to run its record to 4-1-1 over the last six contests. Senior forwards Aaron King and Bryant Salter supplied the firepower for the offense, and the NC State defense limited the Phoenix to just 10 shots. King scored the first goal in the 48th minute, then Salter added two more in the 67th and 69th minutes. Jorge Gonzalez recorded five saves in goal for the win, including stopping his second penalty kick of the season.
Pack Against Ranked Teams: NC State has already faced one of the toughest schedules in the country this year, having faced five ranked opponents in the first nine games of the 2005 season, including today's match against No. 3 Maryland. Thus far NC State has gone 1-2-1 in those match-ups, including a 1-1-1 mark against Top-10 foes.
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 opponents 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.
Duke/adidas Tournament Wrap-Up: NC State had an outstanding showing in early September in the Duke/adidas Tournament, winning the tournament with a 2-0 record. 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. With the two wins, NC State defeated two NCAA Tournament teams from last season.
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. 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.
On Sunday, the Pack scored in the 15th minute and added two goals in the second half to defeat College of Charleston, 3-1. NC State had goals from El Hadj Cisse (15th min.), John Queeley ( 64th) and Aaron King (78th) for the win. Jorge Gonzalez returned to the Wolfpack net, and recorded five saves for his first win of the season. NC State outshot the Cougars 20-13.
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 named, and Salter earned MVP honors.
Salter Named to a Couple Teams of the Week: Senior Bryant Salter was named to both Soccer America and the College Soccer News' Team of the Week for his performance 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, 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.
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 each of the last two seasons. King scored seven goals in the final eight games last year , and had seven of the final nine goals overall.
King has picked up right where he left off the last few seasons, as he has scored in seven of the first eight games. King is currently tied with Maryland's Jason Garey for tops in the ACC with seven goals. But NC State has no relied solely on King's goals, as he has yet to notch a gamewinner. 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.
In NC State's three losses this season, the Pack has scored just two goals. On the other hand, NC State has scored 15 goals in the games it has gone 4-0-1 in. 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 15 in the second 45-minutes.
Meanwhile, the Wolfpack defense that lead the ACC last year giving up a league-low 19 goals, is still looking for the first shutout of 2005.
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. Since then, Gonzalez has started three of the last four games.
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. Both Di Laudo and Bouemboue were held out against Elon, but should return against No. 3 Maryland.
Last Minute Heroics: NC State fans should be advised to stay in their seats until the final horn, because twice this season NC State has scored in the last seconds of a game.
The Pack downed No. 7 St. John's 2-1, thanks to a goal with just five seconds left. Then in the ACC opener against No. 2 North Carolina, NC State scored the equalizer to force overtime with just fifth-tenths of a second left on the scoreboard. NC State was 1-0-1 in those games.
