North Carolina State University Athletics
#16 Men's Soccer Travels to #22 Clemson
9/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 29, 2005
Raleigh, N.C. -
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NC State Travels to No. 22 Clemson:The 16th-ranked NC State men's soccer team will head to Clemson to do battle with the Tigers on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Pack (6-3-1, 1-1-1 ACC) downed visiting Charlotte 2-1 Wednesday night, and will make the quick turnaround and travel to Clemson for the second year in a row. NC State was won three straight games, all at home, and has gone 6-1-1 over the last eight outings after starting the season 0-2.
The Tigers were ranked No. 22 in the NSCAA Coaches' Poll this week. Clemson has a 4-2-1 record overall and a 0-2 mark in league play thus far. The Tigers are led in scoring by Dane Richards with thee goals and two assists for eight points. The Tigers have been off since last weekends loss at No. 2 North Carolina, 1-0.
Fans will be able to follow the game on gametracker, by clicking on GoPack.com.
Series Versus Clemson: Clemson leads the overall series with the Wolfpack by a count of 28-11-6, and the Tigers hold the advantage of games played in Clemson 16-5-1. Clemson won last years game at home 4-3 in overtime, and the Pack won the battle between the two squads in 2003 upsetting No. 24 Clemson 2-0 in Raleigh. NC State has not won at Clemson since a 2-1 victory in 1994.
Last Year Vs. Clemson: NC State fell at Clemson 4-3 in overtime last year at Clemson, S.C. The Tiger's Havird Usry scored the game-winning goal less then three minutes into the first sudden death overtime period. The Wolfpack got two goals from El Hadj Cisse and one goal from Aaron King
NC State scored first at the 12:29 mark, as King scored off of an assist from Federico Peria. After halftime, Clemson scored the next two goals with Justin Moore scoring at the 49:09 mark, and 10 minutes later Steven Rhyne scored.
NC State's Cisse tied the score 2-2 in the 63rd minute off of an assist from Justin Branch. Clemson then took the lead, as Moore scored once again. NC State would come right back, as Cisse scored his second goal to even the game at 3-3 with just over seven minutes to go in regulation.
Last Time Out: No. 16 NC State extended its winning streak to three games with a 2-1 victory over visiting Charlotte, Wednesday night at SAS Soccer Park. Senior Aaron King had his first two-goal game of the season, to give him an ACC leading 10 goals thus far, and the Wolfpack defense held the 49ers without a goal until the final minutes.
The first half featured a few scoring chances for both teams, but NC State was the only team to find the back of the net. King once again was the offensive force for the Pack scoring in the 32nd minute. King took a pass from fellow senior John Queeley into the 49er's penalty box, and maneuvered around a couple defenders and slipped in his ninth goal of the season into the net at the 31:26 mark. The Pack outshot Charlotte in that first half 7-4.
King followed up his first half goal with his second of the contest in the early minutes of the second half. Sophomore Ernesto Di Laudo fed the ball to King along the left sideline, and King used some fancy footwork to out-hustle two Charlotte defenders and scored at the 48:10 mark.
The NC State defense held a shutout until the 85th minute, when a Charlotte corner kick bounced off a Pack defender and past keeper Jorge Gonzalez for an own goal at the 84:44 mark.
Last Time Out in the ACC: The NC State men's soccer team notched its first shutout of the season, and defeated visiting No. 3 Maryland 1-0 last Sunday afternoon at the Method Road Soccer Complex. The Wolfpack used a goal by senior Aaron King in the second minute of the game, and keeper Jorge Gonzalez and the Wolfpack defense held the Terps without a goal the rest of the way. NC State improved its record against Top-25 foes to 2-2-1 this season, including a 2-1-1 slate against top-10 opponents.
NC State jumped out to an early start, scoring in the second minute of the game. Sophomore El Hadj Cisse collected the ball deep in NC State's defensive end of the field and fed a long ball up the left side to King. King took the ball past the Maryland defense and scored on a breakaway at the 1:46 mark.
Maryland was not without their own chances in the first 45-minutes. All-American Jason Garey had a productive half, having one goal called back due to an offsides call, and twice coming up with one-on-one chances with NC State keeper Jorge Gonzalez. Gonzalez however saved both shots inside his own six-yard box. Maryland outshot the Pack 7-4 in the first half.
The second half featured multiple scoring chances by both sides, but neither team found the back of the net. Maryland once again put seven shots on the Pack goal, but the NC State defense held strong for the first shutout of the season. Gonzalez earned the shutout, with six saves.
Pack Is Ranked: Fresh off a shutout of No. 3 Maryland, the NC State men's soccer team has appeared in the national rankings for the first time since the last week of the regular season in 1997. NC State checks in at No. 16 in Soccer America's Poll.
The Pack also made the national rankings on collegesoccernews.com. NC State checked in at No. 26 in the site's top-30 poll. It is the second time this season NC State has appeared in the poll on collegesoccernews.com, the first was after the Duke/adidas tournament when NC State was No. 29. One more poll, soccertimes.com, had the Pack just missing the top-25. NC State had the second highest total among the other teams receiving votes.
Pack Against Ranked Teams: NC State has already faced one of the toughest schedules in the country this year, having faced six ranked opponents in the first 11 games of the 2005 season, including today's match at No. 22 Clemson. Thus far NC State has gone 2-2-1 in those match-ups, including a 2-1-1 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 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 tied No. 3 North Carolina 1-1.
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 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 Also Picks Up Awards: Senior Aaron King was named ACC Player of the Week in helping the Pack with wins over No. 3 Maryland and Elon. King was also named to both Soccer America's and College Soccer News' Teams of the Week.
King registered the game-winning goal in the second minute of action to lead NC State to a 1-0 victory over the Terrapins for the Wolfpack's first conference win of the season. The senior forward took a pass from El Hadj Cisse in the early going, dribbled through the Maryland defense and deposited the ball into the back. Against Elon, the Denver, Colo., native tallied a goal and an assist in leading the Wolfpack to a 3-1 win over the Phoenix. After a scoreless first half, King got NC State on the board first with a goal in the 48th minute. He would later add an assist on Bryant Salter's second goal of the game.
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 also 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 nine of the first 10 games. King is currently leading the ACC with 10 goals thus far. He had his first two-goal effort of the season for the Pack in the 2-1 win over Charlotte. Prior to downing No. 3 Maryland and Charlotte, none of King's first seven goals were the game winner, but in those last two recent outings King has scored all three goals for the Pack - both wins.
King has moved up to No. 8 in NC State history with his 39 career goals, and is also in the top-10 with 92 career points (ninth).
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 18 goals in the games it has gone 6-0-1 in. Maybe even more telling than the scoring in games, is the scoring by halves. NC State has just four first half goals, but one in each of the last two games, and scored 16 times in the second 45-minutes of game this year.
Meanwhile, the Wolfpack defense that lead the ACC last year giving up a league-low 19 goals, has only notched one shutout this season. But that shutout was the 1-0 upset win over No. 3 Maryland.
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. Gonzalez has reclaimed his spot in the nets, as he has Since then, started five of the last six 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.
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.
