It would have been a sweet victory for N.C. State coach George Tarantini.
The Wolfpack (3-2-1, 0-1 ACC) would have beaten North Carolina (2-1-2, 1-0 ACC) and Tarantini would have picked up his 200th career win at home against the bitter rival.
Unfortunately, that’s not how the scenario panned out Saturday afternoon at Method Road Stadium.
State narrowly lost to its long-time rival 1-0. Carolina’s lone goal was a low cross into the box from Bill Dworsky at the 72:12 mark.
According sophomore midfielder Jorge Mora, the Heels won the game because they were simply the better team on the field.
“They’re a good team, and you have got to give them credit,” Mora said. “We’ve just got to step back and analyze what we need to do better. We need to keep our heads up and bounce back. It is just one game.”
Carolina nearly doubled the number of shots taken by the Pack, tallying 11. State managed to fire only six shots and missed several key opportunities to score, which was frustrating, according to senior forward El Hadj Cisse.
“We just have to keep working on it and next time put it away,” Cisse said. “Sometimes you don’t get what you want. You have to wait until it comes to you, and then you can get it.”
The rivalry between the teams has historically brought out passion in the players, and this year’s match-up was no exception with 31 fouls committed during the game — 21 for the Heels and 11 for the Pack. Four yellow cards — two for each team — were issued, one of those going to Cisse.
Cisse became frustrated late in the second period following a pair of tackles on state’s players. A referee failed to acknowledge the fouls, and Cisse subsequently told him he should “wear blue” after he received the yellow card.
“There were two stupid fouls we got in the back and he didn’t call them,” Cisse said. “So I asked him why he has something against N.C. State and not Carolina. Because we have a big name we don’t get anything. So I told him to wear blue next time when he refs so we can know he’s on their side. I have to be frustrated because there are some fouls we get and they don’t call it against us.”
There were only four substitute players that came in relief of the Pack’s starters, compared to nine for Carolina. Tarantini acknowledged that State’s depth issues played a big role in the loss.
“We got a little fatigued, and it took a toll on us.” Tarantini said. “But I thought we played all right. I thought we had moments. But they are fresher, they are deeper and eventually that really took a toll on us.”
It would have been storybook for Tarantini to capture his 200th career win against State’s biggest rival, but according to sophomore midfielder Daniel Fish, things don’t always work out like they should.
“I think we worked hard but we needed that one little thing — that one little extra push.” Fish said. “Maybe we would have been able to pull it out. Everybody worked hard and everybody who got in gave it their all. It’s just unfortunate.”
