North Carolina State University Athletics
Riding Momentum Into the ACC Tournament (11/10/08)
11/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
September 27th was the changing point in our season. That night vs. Boston College brought a whole new attitude to the NC State soccer team. Since that night we have won 7 out of the last 9 games including a huge win against #18 Duke and two other conference games against Virginia Tech and Clemson.
This success can largely be contributed to elevated level of defensive play as well as our increased ability to score goals. Playing top teams ranked in the nation has not had an effect on our ability to score goals. We are currently on an 11 game scoring streak which includes seven goals against our past four ACC opponents. Our increased level of offensive productivity has turned out 26 total goals the past nine games while our defense has only allowed 11 goals. Increased offensive firepower and strong defensive play has led to a surge of momentum that any team that we play will have trouble combating.
This momentum is strengthening with every game. We now have the feeling that we can win, regardless of the team that we are playing. An example of this increased level of play was seen in our win at Duke. We went on the road at Duke, on their senior night, and held them to only two shots on goal; one of which was a penalty kick which was awarded on a questionable call. The stats sheet will never mention the circumstances of the game. They will never tell anyone that this was Duke’s final home game of the season, much less their senior night. It will never tell you how hard Duke was struggling to possibly up their rankings in the brackets in the NCAA tournament, or they had so much to play for because they could have moved all the way up to third in the ACC with a win. If you weren’t at the game, you wouldn’t know that in the final seconds we had a chance to increase the score of the game. The game at Duke was one of the most challenging games that I have ever taken part of as a member of the NCSU soccer team. Even through all of these circumstances, our team was able to prevail and do it in a very commanding fashion.
It would be hard for anyone to say that our team has not changed into a team that could beat anyone on any given night. As a team we are all very excited about the ACC tournament that starts Tuesday. We have stepped up offensively and defensively and have learned the importance of working together. We would be ranked as the 4th seed without the unfortunate circumstances that occurred in our win over Boston College. As it stands now, we are ranked as the 8th seed going into the tournament and are looking forward to making a big run.
Everyone on the team feels that we have a great chance of being successful. Even more, everyone on the team feels that we should be given a chance to prove our selves in the NCAA tournament. First thing first, and that is the game vs. Virginia Tech on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. All the members of the team know that we have a chance to do something special. It is not often that a team that is, by the numbers,’ ranked next to last in the conference has a chance to make a run in the tournament. Our ranking means nothing to us; we know that we legitimately beat Boston College and should be ranked fourth but there is nothing that we can do about that now. All we can do is ask for support and know that our true die hard fans’ and hopefully a lot will be out there for the game.
GO WOLFPACK!!
DANIEL FISH
This success can largely be contributed to elevated level of defensive play as well as our increased ability to score goals. Playing top teams ranked in the nation has not had an effect on our ability to score goals. We are currently on an 11 game scoring streak which includes seven goals against our past four ACC opponents. Our increased level of offensive productivity has turned out 26 total goals the past nine games while our defense has only allowed 11 goals. Increased offensive firepower and strong defensive play has led to a surge of momentum that any team that we play will have trouble combating.
This momentum is strengthening with every game. We now have the feeling that we can win, regardless of the team that we are playing. An example of this increased level of play was seen in our win at Duke. We went on the road at Duke, on their senior night, and held them to only two shots on goal; one of which was a penalty kick which was awarded on a questionable call. The stats sheet will never mention the circumstances of the game. They will never tell anyone that this was Duke’s final home game of the season, much less their senior night. It will never tell you how hard Duke was struggling to possibly up their rankings in the brackets in the NCAA tournament, or they had so much to play for because they could have moved all the way up to third in the ACC with a win. If you weren’t at the game, you wouldn’t know that in the final seconds we had a chance to increase the score of the game. The game at Duke was one of the most challenging games that I have ever taken part of as a member of the NCSU soccer team. Even through all of these circumstances, our team was able to prevail and do it in a very commanding fashion.
It would be hard for anyone to say that our team has not changed into a team that could beat anyone on any given night. As a team we are all very excited about the ACC tournament that starts Tuesday. We have stepped up offensively and defensively and have learned the importance of working together. We would be ranked as the 4th seed without the unfortunate circumstances that occurred in our win over Boston College. As it stands now, we are ranked as the 8th seed going into the tournament and are looking forward to making a big run.
Everyone on the team feels that we have a great chance of being successful. Even more, everyone on the team feels that we should be given a chance to prove our selves in the NCAA tournament. First thing first, and that is the game vs. Virginia Tech on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. All the members of the team know that we have a chance to do something special. It is not often that a team that is, by the numbers,’ ranked next to last in the conference has a chance to make a run in the tournament. Our ranking means nothing to us; we know that we legitimately beat Boston College and should be ranked fourth but there is nothing that we can do about that now. All we can do is ask for support and know that our true die hard fans’ and hopefully a lot will be out there for the game.
GO WOLFPACK!!
DANIEL FISH
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