The men’s soccer team (1-5-1) suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime defeat to the Panthers from High Point University (3-3-1) Wednesday night under the lights of N.C. State Soccer Stadium in the team’s third home game of the season. The loss put the team’s home record at 1-1-1.
The first half ended in a scoreless tie with the Wolfpack recording five shots, two of which were on goal, and High Point shooting two shots of which one was on goal. A lack of communication between players marked State’s first half performance, according to redshirt junior goalkeeper Christopher Widman.
“There’s times when [miscommunication] happens in every game,” Widman said.
High Point broke the scoreless tie with a goal from Hilaire Babou when the clock said 52 minutes off an assist from Chris Shrum and Matt Tuttle. The goal came from a cross into the box.
High Point did not hold the lead long as the Pack quickly tied the game back up at 1-1 with junior midfielder Chrystel Bakong’s goal coming off his head from Alan Sanchez’s assist via a corner kick 57 minutes into the game.
With two minutes left in regulation, redshirt junior Ronnie Bouemboue nearly sealed the game for the Pack with a shot off of a High Point foul. The shot went just high of the crossbar, leaving the game tied and sending it into overtime.
“There is nobody on this team who has better heart,” coach George Tarantini said. “There is nobody on this team who wants to win more; there is nobody on this team I respect [more] than Ronnie Bouemboue.”
With less than a minute remaining in the first of two scheduled sudden death overtime periods, High Point sealed the win with a golden goal from its senior forward Chris Shrum. The goal came from an assist from High Point’s Scott Rojo in the form of a cross into the box.
State had numerous opportunities to score through the game, racking up 19 shots, seven of which were on goal, while High Point was only able to get eight shots, though six of the eight were on goal. Even with the large number of shots taken, the Pack was only able to score once, despite several other shots coming very close.
“The truth of the matter is we create opportunities, we shot on the goal, [but] we could not score,” Tarantini said. “In our sport, when you have 19 shots and you don’t score, you deserve to lose.”
The Wolfpack coaches take full responsibility for Wednesday’s loss.
“From the coaches, we take full responsibility for this loss. In this league you have to be prepared to play every single game,” Tarantini said. “We can use any excuses you want: injuries, red cards, whatever you want to use. The end result is that we [were] supposed to win this game.”
According to Widman, there is only one way to overcome a tough loss: move on and begin working towards the next game.
“Go to practice tomorrow, work hard,” Widman said. “We can play a lot better than we did [Wednesday] and we will.”
The team’s home stand continues against 11th ranked Boston College on Saturday at 7pm, the team’s third conference match of the season and its first at home.
“This is a very tough loss for us but it is over,” Tarantini said. “Boston [College] is coming and they [are] hungry. In this league there is no tomorrow which means we better be prepared.”
