North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Opens Fall Practice
8/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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Aug. 9, 2011
Raleigh, N.C. -
The NC State men's soccer team took to the field for the first time this season on Tuesday morning. The Wolfpack will hold two practice sessions a day until the fall semester starts on August 17, as the Pack will continue to get ready for its season opener on August 26 against St. Francis. Here are some early season notes:
• The Findley Era Begins: After 25 years at the helm of the NC State men's soccer program, George Tarantini retired after the 2010 season. NC State's new athletic director Debbie Yow went out and got one of the top coaches, Kelly Findley.
Findley joins the Pack after a successful five year run at Butler, where he led the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons and was named Horizon League Coach of the Year those seasons as well. He went 59-25-15 during his time at Butler, including 43-7-7 over the last three years and finished the 2010 regular season ranked No. 5 nationally with an undefeated mark.
• Recruiting Class Ranked #12: Last season NC State brought in the 19th-best recruiting class according to collegesoccernews.com, and this year head coach Kelly Findley and his staff topped that mark. The Pack's 13 member recruiting class is ranked No. 12 nationally by collegesoccernews.com.
• Mukungu Receives Honor: Sophomore defender Sonny Mukungu was a top newcomer for the Pack last season, starting all 20 games at central defender. His hard work did not go unnoticed, as Mukungu was named a third-team freshman All-American by collegesoccernews.com, and also to the ACC All-Freshmen team. Recently he was named the 23rd-best underclassman nationally by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
• Inexperience in Goal: For the second straight season, the Wolfpack will have newcomers competing for the starting job in goal. NC State's three goalies on the 2011 roster (senior Vasilios Dimopoulos, sophomore Fabian Otte, and freshman Joe Mills) have never seen game action with the Pack.
