The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1540860
G BEST FOOT BEST FOOT FORWARD FORWARD Donavan Phillip Emerges As An Elite Goal Scorer For The Men's Soccer Team 44 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY NOAH FLEISCHMAN oing into NC State's mid- September meeting with William & Mary, Wolfpack men's soccer coach Marc Hubbard told his squad it needed to jump out to an early lead. If the Pack were to give the Tribe an inch, they'd take it a mile, so a quick strike or two would allow the home team to play comfortably against an upstart Coastal Athletic Association foe that was looking for a signature nonconference win. Striker Donavan Phillip knew he would be the one tasked with finishing chances to give NC State the lead Hubbard was looking for. But what followed wasn't something that he could have predicted. The junior goal-scoring machine started out by giving NC State a 1-0 edge in the third minute of the game via a set- piece header. Then he found the back of the net three more times in the game's first 28 minutes, helping the Wolfpack build an insurmountable lead that enabled it to turn to its backup players. "It was kind of crazy," Phillip said of his role in NC State's 7-0 victory over the Tribe. "It was quite something. I didn't look at the time, to be honest. … I was just trying to play the game. I knew a lot of guys' game time was riding on me, so I was trying to put them away as quickly as possible." It was a small glimpse of what Phil- lip can do, but his 4-goal performance seemed to put the forward on the national radar. Through NC State's first 15 games, he was tied for the NCAA Division I lead with 15 goals. With NC State getting set for the post- season, Phillip has become the face of the No. 3 team in the nation, but he isn't look- ing to boost his own stock. Instead, he's eager to help pace the Wolfpack to heights it hasn't seen in more than three decades. Gaining Experience Saint Lucia is a small Eastern Caribbean nation known for its beach resorts, reef diving and volcanoes. With a popula- tion of roughly 140,000, it tends to favor cricket over soccer, but Phillip grew up surrounded by the game he now loves. He can remember going to watch his father's professional soccer games in Jamaica, and his mother also played the sport at a high level, along with cricket and rugby. In Phillip's eyes, it was a "no-brainer" to follow in his parents' footsteps. His mother earned her coaching license so that she could tutor him, and by the time he reached age 14, he was skilled enough to move to the United States to play at Kiski Prep, a boarding school in Saltsburg, Pa. It wasn't an easy road to move to the States, but Phillip's family did everything they could to help him secure a visa. He Heading into NC State's regular- season finale against Syracuse, Phillip was tied for the NCAA Division I lead with 15 goals. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE ATHLETICS