The No. 15 men’s soccer team will take on the No. 2 Tar Heels in the quarterfinal round of the ACC tournament Wednesday at 8 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. N.C. State (12-5-1, 2-5-1 ACC) concluded the regular season portion of its schedule winning eight of the last eleven games. The Tar Heels (13-2-2, 5-2-1 ACC) closed out their season going 10-1-1 over their final twelve games.
“We can control the ball and play with confidence against a very good Carolina team,” coach George Tarantini said.
These two teams last played each other on Sept. 12 and the Wolfpack fell with a score of 2-1 in Chapel Hill. State jumped out to the early lead in the first 70 seconds of the contest, but then was defeated by two unanswered goals. The Tar Heels come into the ACC Tournament with their highest seed in the tournament since 2001. They are led by National Player of the Week sophomore Billy Schuler, who is tied for the ACC lead in game winning goals with six.
Tarantini said the key to winning the rematch will be fixing the errors the team made in the loss to Carolina earlier this year.
“We need to minimize the mistakes we made the first time we played them,” Tarantini said.
N.C. State comes into the tournament as the seventh seed and is led by senior forwards Ronnie Bouemboue and Alan Sanchez, who tallied seven goals apiece during the regular season. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Christopher Widman, who has accumulated seven shutouts this season and boasts a 0.92 goals against average, has also played a huge role in the team’s success. Widman said he expects a different outcome this time around.
“We expect to beat Carolina and we were very close in the last game,” Widman said.
The ACC Tournament will be held at WakeMed Soccer Park, which is located right down the road in Cary. The neutral site of the tournament is also home to the Carolina RailHawks, a professional soccer club. It has hosted tournaments such as the NCAA College Cup and international contests as well. The ACC tournament location makes for a convenient playing site close to N.C. State’s campus.
“Every time you can have the support of the fans it really gives us a big boost,” Tarantini said.
Another top team competing in this tournament is Wake Forest, who holds the number one seed in the tournament and is ranked third in the national polls. Six teams currently represent the ACC on the national stage by being ranked in the top 25 in the polls.
“Every game in the ACC is a big game, so the tournament is not that different from conference play,” Widman said.
N.C. State will look to be competitive against a nationally ranked Tar Heel squad with its own nationally recognized players. The Wolfpack has 13 players who are either juniors or seniors with previous tournament experience and an understanding of what the ACC tournament is all about.
“We are a senior group, and we are not looking beyond [the ACC Tournament] yet,” Widman said.
