NC State Wolfpack Head into 2024
A collection of posts from my X account regarding the North Carolina State University Men’s Soccer Program.
Raleigh’s Revival — January 29, 2024
Teams within the ACC may be looking over their shoulders this upcoming season... Despite an ACC Atlantic division that includes the two most recent National Champions (Clemson and Syracuse) and the always competitive Wake Forest and Louisville, new Head Coach Marc Hubbard looks to make an immediate impact on NC State Men's Soccer.
With a recent 1-5-2 conference record (.250) and tied for the most goals conceded in ACC competition (18) last season, there's certainly room for improvement. In reality though, the Wolfpack aren't really that far off. Only 5 of the 12 teams in the ACC had won more than 2 regular season conference games. Syracuse, UNC, Louisville, and Pittsburgh all made National Championship tournament appearences after only winning two each. A point of consistent optimism has been their strength at home, holding a combined record of 18-9-5 over the past three years. Looking deeper into the history, they have performed well above .500 in 8 of the past 10 seasons at Dail Soccer Field. However, it's a different story when it comes to their away form. Their last away victory was at Longwood University back on Sept. 28, 2021. Correcting this trend and winning at least a couple of games on the road will be important going forward. For comparison, Hubbard's New Hampshire went undefeated away from home in 2023.
An additional milestone on the project plan will come towards the end of the season in the form of getting an ACC Tournament win. In their past three outings, they haven't made it past the first round, losing with a combined score of 10-1. There should be a great deal of optimism around campus though. It's not unrealistic to expect a more stout defense in the 2024 season as they make adjustments.
After reviewing the conceded goals, there are some trends that provide opportunities for quick improvement in that category. Adding New Hampshire’s 2023 minutes leader in Isaac Heffess via the transfer portal should help too. They should also be able to maintain, if not expand upon their offense as well. I think there's a lot more potential to be seen from guys like Calem Tommy, Hakim Karamoko, and Vusumzi Plamana, especially with the addition of Taig Healy.
Improving their goal differential will ultimately impact the results, so if they are able to cut down on the goals against, maintain or improve upon their goals scored, win a couple away games, and even win an ACC Tournament game... they will be well on their way to a National Championship tournament appearance — something they haven't accomplished since 2019, which resulted in a first round exit. From an individual player personnel perspective, here are a few of my keys to Hubbard's early success:
Integrate Taig Healy and Isaac Heffess
Build around the Veteran Players
Maximize Calem Tommy's Potential
Maintain Hakim Karamoko's Trajectory
2023 Records of the Division I Programs within the Carolinas —
If you’re curious where NC State stood within the Carolina Region as a whole in 2023, here are the records:
Clemson (15-3-5) (.760)
UNC Charlotte (13-4-1) (.750)
Wake Forest (11-3-5) (.711)
Duke (11-4-3) (.694)
UNC Chapel Hill (11-4-7) (.659)
High Point (10-4-5) (.658)
Davidson (10-5-1) (.656)
UNC Asheville (10-5-3) (.639)
Furman (10-6-3) (.605)
Wofford (7-4-6) (.588)
Charleston (6-6-5) (.500)
UNC Wilmington (6-6-4) (.458)
Elon (6-8-4) (.444)
Campbell (4-6-4) (.429)
NC State (6-9-3) (.417)
South Carolina (6-9-3) (.417)
Presbyterian (5-8-3) (.406)
USC Upstate (5-10-2) (.353)
Queens (5-10-2) (.353)
Garner Webb (4-9-4) (.353)
Coastal Carolina (3-9-3) (.300)
Winthrop (4-11-2) (.294)
UNC Greensboro (2-10-5) (.265)
Only the top six schools made the cut for the NCAA National Championship tournament.
Reinforcements Arriving —
Attacking midfielder Taig Healy has transferred in from New Hampshire where he contributed 4 Goals and 3 Assists last season. Healy will be a great addition for the Wolfpack between his creative style of play, profile, and history with Hubbard. He should integrate well with the existing group.
Fans of USL League Two will likely recognize Taig Healy as a standout with Seacoast United Phantoms, a club he’s been a part of since he was a kid. Over the past two summers, he was awarded the Northwest Division Player of the Year in 2023, and was named to an All-Conference Team in 2022 along with several high profile players, some of which are now with MLS clubs. As a Freshman at UNH, he was selected for the American East All-Rookie Team as well.
Click Below for Highlight Video —
Taig Healy 2023 NCAA Soccer Highlights (New Hampshire)
Tommy’s Third Year —
Calem Tommy has all the skills and attributes to make a substantial impact on the Wolfpack in 2024, so I’m hoping to see a big year from the pacy South African. Given his play, I’m surprised he hasn’t been talked about more, but I guess that shows the importance of team performance and statistics in sports nowadays. If Hubbard can utilize Tommy in the right ways and maximize his potential, I’d anticipate seeing his name pop up on the stat sheet more often again.
Click Below for Highlight Video —
Calem Tommy 2023 NCAA Soccer Highlights (NC State)
Hakim Karamoko — February 22, 2024
One of the other college teenagers that I have highlighted for this upcoming season is Hakim Karamoko. At 18 years old, he already has a year of experience under his belt at NC State.
If you watch the highlight video in this post, you might not even realize that he played his entire freshman season as a 17 year old, based on how he performed. The former Manhattan SC attacker contributed 4 goals in 515 minutes, all of which were scored in rather spectacular fashion. He was recognized with a selection to the ACC All-Freshman Team as a result. Tied for second in goals for the Wolfpack in 2023, it’s obvious that Hakim should have a more expanded role in 2024, especially with the arrival of a new coaching staff in Marc Hubbard, Jon Shaad and Drew Hutchins.
The Raleigh based team will return a veteran midfield of Will Buete and Vusumzi Plamana. When you add in a playmaker like Taig Healy and retain the speed and skill of Calem Tommy as well, this team could be really fun to watch despite losing another attacking favorite in Luke Hille. People will say that things won’t change, that NC State has struggled and will always struggle, but I don’t know, I’m optimistic about these guys under new management — even in year one. There’s more than a good chance that Karamoko has a breakout sophomore season with the ‘Pack.
Click Below for Highlight Video —