Men’s Soccer
On a cold blistery night, the men’s soccer team ended its regular season with a 3-0 win over Gardner-Webb at the SAS Soccer Park Wednesday night.
Coach George Tarantini said the hard work from his team was evident in the victory.
“We’ve been working hard, we have two practices a day,” Tarantini said. “So we’re working hard, we’ve been working very hard.”
Freshman midfielder Alan Sanchez said the team had to focus on all aspects of the game to come away with the victory.
“We needed to play defense, to stay compact, play the best we could,” Sanchez said. “But it wasn’t just defense, it’s just that we needed to make sure that they couldn’t score and win.”
The first goal was scored by Sanchez in the 25th minute from a penalty kick.
“It was just a penalty you know, I’m the one that practices it in practice, so I do it during the games,” he said.
Sophomore Ronnie Bouemboue scored the second goal in the 38th minute off of a corner kick. He was assisted by senior defender Haddon Kirk and freshman midfielder Jorge Mora.
The Wolfpack’s final goal was another Sanchez penalty kick in the second half.
Junior goalkeeper Tom DeStefano also racked up 10 saves in the game. The final regular season record for State is 5-9-1. This was the last regular season win for the seniors — a group Tarantini said he will miss next season.
“This is the last game for a lot of those seniors. They did everything they could. I am very proud of this group — Joey, all those guys, I’m gonna miss them, tremendously,” Tarantini said.
Confidence for the team is high and the Pack hopes they can carry it into next week’s ACC Tournament in Germantown, Md. They hope to pull out an ACC championship. Sanchez said he believes this win will help them into the tournament.
“It gives us a little more confidence for the seniors and the whole team. It helps us start off strong in the ACC Tournament,” Sanchez said.
Tarantini also said he thinks this win can better position his team.
“We need to win and everything can be possible. We believe, we believe,” Tarantini said.
