The Wolfpack and the Tarheels battled to a 1-1 tie. The Pack scored first at the 55th minute (or so) on a corner taken by Frederico Peria and headed in by Chris Gannon. This was a point blank header with *zero* chance of being saved. The Heels equalized at the 65th minute (or thereabouts) with one the nicest goals of the season. Jamie Watson took a ball out of the air about 10 yds out and bent a low drive near post. This game has to go down as one of the worst officiated games of the year. Marcus Story was sent off early in the second half after receiving his second yellow. The first was for a tackle from behind on Frederico Peria, the second was for something he said. Santiago Fusilier was sent off for the Pack (two yellows) for tackling with his cleats up. He also was sent off for a good five minutes for having his shirt untucked, and it took that long for a stoppage to get him back in. The Tarheels out shot the Pack roughly 2-1. But, the game didn't feel that lopsided. The Pack had their chances. The man of the match was without a question Jorge Gonzales. He had two point blank, 1v1 saves in the overtime to preserve the tie for the Pack. All-in-all a pretty good result for the Wolfpack, and a disappointing afternoon for the #4 Tarheels. The Wolfpack finish their ACC schedule 2-3-1. Who would have thought?
UNC remains winless on the road (not including neutral site). But, not a terrible result against newly respectable State. I'm just glad they apparently got out of it with no injuries. The match report says there were 50 fouls - 30 for State, and 20 for UNC. Jamie Watson looks to be a pretty strong candidate for ACC rookie of the year.
The sky must be falling when getting a draw with NC State has now become a respectable result! I have seen them play three times this year: twice at Method Road (win vs UVA and tie vs NCSU) and once on the road at Duke (3-0 loss). They are certainly a jekyll and hyde team, but that is still much better than in year's past. Say what you want (and I can't believe I ever thought I would hear myself say this), but you have to give George Tarantini some serious consideration for ACC Coach of the Year. I'm not saying that he deserves it, but the drastic improvement in results says that he should at least get some mention.
Wow....can't believe that someone actually said it. Maybe he is a contender by default. I'd still have him about 4th....
WOW! #3 UNC Ties NC State 1-1 NC States must be better than everyone thought. Now their 1-0 win over UVA doesn't seem so bad. Go figure, UVA beats UNC, NC State beats UVA and then ties UNC. Crazy year for the ACC!
NC State is better than people thought, and UNC is worse. UNC is overrated. I didn't see Watson's goal, but earlier in the game, he was hacking people like a punk and received a yellow for a vicious tackle from behind that almost led to a bench clearing brawl. Some people have criticized Storey, others think he's great....well, midway through the first half, he's got a sitter and what does he do....he hits it through the uprights! It's amazing to me that guys at this level still kick the ball OVER the crossbar from close range. Put it on frame! He can run fast, but he can't shoot. Speaking about coaches...no way GT gets coach of the year. Everyone is probably going to vote for the german genius, although I believe you need to wait and see what happens the rest of the way. If Maryland wins it, I think Cirovski should get it. Hey, now that Duke canned their football coach, when are they going to axe their futbol coach?
luvie; i agree cirovski seems to train the only stable team in the acc this yr and seems to be the most likely candidate. although you don't like to hear this, bolowich would probably get the second slot, with the great entertainer (gt) taking third. wake, uva, clemson, duke trainers just didn't produce quality efforts out of their sides.