With the temperature in the lower 90s and a rowdy crowd on hand, the men’s soccer team hosted Virginia, the No. 3 team in the country, at Method Road Stadium Saturday afternoon and tied the Cavaliers 2-2.
The game provided much entertainment for players and people in attendance. During the first half, with assistance from sophomore midfielders Alan Sanchez and Jorge Mora, senior midfielder El Hadj Cisse scored the Wolfpack’s first goal and the only goal for both teams in the first half, giving the team a 1-0 lead against the Cavaliers.
In the second half, the Cavs gained ground on the Pack, and within a few minutes, UVA scored two goals leading State 2-1. Coach George Tarantini said his team did not start the half like he wanted to, but the players were able to bounce back.
“We lose our legs a little bit,” Tarantini said. “We recuperated after the second goal. We came from behind, and we fought. I”m very proud of that.”
And the Pack did. At the 68th minute of the game, senior midfielder Ernesto Di Laudo scored the Pack’s second goal with assistance from Sanchez and senior defender Hugh Cronin, tying the game 2-2.
Tarantini said he was proud of the way his guys played, despite the 90-plus-degree weather.
“Its the seventh game we’ve played in this weather,” Tarantini said. “Everyone else plays under the lights. That takes a tremendous energy for us. I’m very proud how we played. We played hard. We try. This is a pretty good team, but I think we can play with anyone in the league.”
The game was filled with drama, featuring nine yellow cards — four on State and five on Virginia. One yellow card on Virginia was issued after UVA coach George Gelnovatch disputed a call that resulted in his player receiving a yellow card.
Both coaches were told a number of times to remain in their team’s box. Tarantini said the referee was just doing his job to control the game and felt that the team needed to do a better job holding its composure.
At one point, the State bench was screaming at the refs after Mora was brought to the ground by a UVA player, saying that the wrong guy received the yellow card.
“They double-teamed me, and I was able to get around them,” Mora said. “Put [the ball] through one of the guy’s legs, and on my way to the goal, the guy took my legs out from behind. Obviously, he deserved maybe even more than a yellow card. I would have said a red card because it was from behind. You can’t blame the game on the referee.”
Cisse said despite the physical play in the game, its the referees’ job to keep it under control.
“It’s an ACC game,” Cisse said. “When it comes to the second half, everyone’s like, ‘hit it.’ Everyone is ready to fight. And that’s how a ref [is] supposed to control a game with a yellow card.”
The Pack’s next game is Wednesday at home against Longwood. With the temperature unseasonably warm for the next couple days, the team will have to return to playing in the heat. As for whether the heat gets to the team, Cisse said the players are out in the hot weather.
“We practice in the heat. We do everything in the heat,” Cisse said. “Like our assistant coach Fernando [Ortega] said, ‘whatever you put in the bank, that’s what you get in the game.’ Just like putting a deposit, you withdraw it. That’s what we did.”
Tarantini knows what the team will be working on for the next few days.
“We need to get rest,” Tarantini said. “We need to rest, and maybe we can play under the lights, through the miracle of God — who knows.”
