After playing five ranked teams in their past six matches, including two then-No. 1-ranked teams in North Carolina and Clemson, the men’s soccer team is set to play an opponent with a losing record for the first time in seven matches.
Maine comes to Raleigh for today’s match having not won a game all season, with a record of 0-11.
The Black Bears have experienced challenges on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball this season, having scored only five goals and having allowed 31 goals through its 11 matches. Maine has also been shut out in six matches.
Coach George Tarantini said he didn’t know much about the Black Bears, but said the team has to go into the match expecting tough competition.
“It is a team that plays a pretty good schedule,” Tarantini said. “I anticipate that it will be a difficult game like everything else.”
Maine played at Boston College, who N.C. State lost to Friday night by a score of 5-1, and on Aug. 27, losing 4-1.
In the Wolfpack’s match against the Eagles, the Eagles had 27 shots and five goals compared to the Wolfpack’s six shots and one goal.
Freshman midfielder Alan Sanchez said the team has to do something different against Maine in order to win.
“We have to take as many shots as we can,” Sanchez said. “We have to win.”
Meanwhile, Tarantini said Boston College’s pressure on the ball disrupted State’s tempo and what the team was trying to do.
“We wanted to control the tempo and build for the future,” Tarantini said. “But we couldn’t control anything due to Boston College’s pressure. We didn’t have an answer for that.”
In order to reverse what happened in the match against the Eagles, Tarantini said the team will be applying more pressure.
“We want to move a few more people up top and apply more pressure,” Tarantini said. “We want to see if we can win some more balls and create more offense right away.”
When facing an opponent like Maine, Tarantini said the team has to be prepared and avoid playing down to its competition.
“I hope that we can prepare, we can go in there and challenge ourselves, and we can go in there and win,” Tarantini said. “This game can become so crazy. You never know what will happen.”
In comparison to State’s ACC schedule so far this season, which has included four of the nation’s top 10 teams, Tarantini said Maine will be a different type of game.
“This game isn’t necessarily what I thought it would be,” Tarantini said. “We play everybody. Call us, and we will play.”