This has been a disappointing season for George Tarantini and the men’s soccer team. The men are 6-8-3 on the season and 1-6-1 in the ACC and sitting, as predicted, at the bottom of the ACC.
With that said, there is no reason the team shouldn’t still get support as it opens the ACC Tournament with a 1 p.m. game against Virginia at SAS Soccer Park in Cary today. According to Tarantini, student participation means the world to his team.
“I never use any excuses. Excuses are things I don’t understand,” Tarantini said. “But playing in front of a crowd that believes in you means everything. Nobody wants to win more than this soccer team. We don’t believe in moral victories. We believe in winning. Having the students there for us would be a huge boost. They create noise and momentum for us to enjoy. I can’t promise a victory, but I can promise we’ll give it everything we’ve got.”
Now you know what means to the coach and his players to have the support from fans, but here are a few more reasons students should make their way to the ACC Tournament today.
It’s home field advantage. The men’s soccer team practices at SAS Soccer Stadium on a regular basis and is comfortable with the surroundings. Being the closest school to the stadium, we are considered the hosts of the tournament, and therefore should have greatest turnout. Granted, the team has struggled, but 12 of the team’s 17 games have been decided by one goal or tied. Imagine what home field advantage could do if these games come down to one goal or less. It’s a five-minute drive to SAS Stadium, right off Western Street/Chatham Street as you enter Cary. If you’re not in class, go have some fun and tailgate and show them some support.
Do it for the seniors. The team’s three starting seniors, Ernesto Di Laudo, Hugh Cronin and El-Hadj Cisse, have been staples holding this team together for a long time. Cisse, in particular, has dedicated himself to this program to the point that before a trip last December, he had not seen his actual family in the Ivory Coast in over seven years. If this guy, who has been State’s offensive stud for the past few seasons, is that committed to the Wolfpack family, fans should be committed enough to watch him and his fellow seniors in what could be their last game. Though Cisse’s playing time may be limited due to injury, according to Tarantini, it would mean a lot for him to and the other seniors to see fans in the stands.
Do it for the coach. I must say that in my coverage of N.C. State Athletics, no coach has been as entertaining to watch as George Tarantini. What other coach paces the sidelines in basketball shorts, a baggy t-shirt, aviators, with hair out of control while he screams at players and refs in some strange hybrid of Spanish and English. He looks like an Argentinean version of the Big Lebowski. The guy is fun to watch, win or lose, and in the season that he earned his 200th career win, students should show him some love.
We are State fans. I think the Carolina game this weekend is a perfect example of the nature of State fans: they don’t give up on their athletics. We aren’t bandwagon fans. Even when the football team’s season looked abysmal, students were packing out Carter-Finley. Or last season, when the basketball team struggled, fans never gave up hope, and the team rewarded its fans with a hell of a tournament run. I strongly believe the men could reward its fans at SAS today as well. The Pack tied Virginia 2-2 in the first meeting, when Virginia was ranked No. 3 in the nation. With the right crowd support, there’s no reason State can’t send Virginia home packing and be ready for Boston College in the second round.
