After a 3-1 victory over Virginia Tech in the opening round, N.C. State fell to No. 1 Wake Forest 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament Wednesday in Cary. The Wolfpack finished the season 9-9-1 overall and 3-5-0 in ACC play.
State took an early lead off a redshirt junior Ronnie Bouemboue goal in the 13th minute on an assist from junior Alan Sanchez. The goal was Bouemboue’s 14th of the season and Sanchez’s 10th assist. The two have combined to become a prolific scoring attack and were both named All-ACC second team.
“It’s just great communication between me and Alan we’ve been doing great this season,” Bouemboue said. “We found our stride late in the season.” It’s just another day at work for both of us. There was nothing really special about it. It’s just hard work, focus, staying calm and putting it in.”
However, State’s lead did not last long. Wake’s Jamie Franks scored off Cody Arnoux’s cross just 10 minutes after Bouemboue’s goal. The Demon Deacons would not stop there as Evan Brown scored in the fourtieth minute.
Sanchez nearly equalized a minute before half time on a free kick, missing just wide. Wake would not stop the scoring, netting two goals just three minutes apart in the second half to seal the victory.
“I thought the game was pretty equal for the first half, but they got a little more than we did in the end,” coach George Tarantini said. “No excuses. They beat us the right way. They are a very tough team.”
Despite the loss, the players and coaches are optimistic about next season. Only three players from the current squad will be graduating and State will return basically its entire starting lineup.
“I don’t think we can feel bad the game is over. We need to start thinking about next year,” Tarantini said. “Somebody just told me walking off the field ëWe can not wait to go start training again.” Not many people will tell you that.”
Bouemboue reiterated the optimism for the future and building on his personally successful scoring season.
“It was my first year coming off my injury — I’m not making any excuses, I have to perform,” Bouemboue said. “Next year I am just hoping to come back even stronger.”
And Tarantini knew, facing the number-one team in the nation, the game wasn’t going to be easy.
“We gave everything we had today, we left it all out on the field,” Tarantini said. “We had some opportunities. Wake Forest is one of the best teams I have seen in a long, long time. Iím proud of every single member of this team.”
