NC State is off to a 3-2 start after back to back wins over St. John's and College of Charleston. I understand State has more talent than its had in a long time. Will State contend for a conference crown?
Someone had told me that they are playing at SAS. Is this correct? Those both seem like pretty impresive wins for State.
st. johns win is impressive credential since st. johns dismantled dook. however, you gotta remember that wild man tarantini only gets wound up around mid-season. expect ncsu to break some more acc hearts though in the season games and since they are "at home" during the acc tournament they need to do better there to catch the eye of some of that casl talent.
2005 ACC regular season kicks off this week. Wednesday night at SAS UNC takes on NCSU. An intriguing match, especially given State's results this past weekend (and Frito's comments). Then a full slate of weekend matches: Friday 9/16 BC at Va Tech; Clemson at Maryland. Saturday 9/17 State at UVa (curious scheduling for NCSU) Sunday 9/18 Wake at Duke (big early match)
And to all the CASL players that went to UNC and disappeared from the soccer world? "Nice career move..."
from seeing the score sheet, it sounded like a very intense game, with north carolina scoring with a minute left and then nc state scoring with less than a second left, anyone at the game who could give any insights to the game?
Set piece at the end hits off the post & state taps it in with about 5 seconds left. UNC could/should have won it, had more chances on frame etc but just didn't do it. State did well and fought very hard against a very athletic team. Typical ACC match!
In the last minute, after Carolina scored to go ahead, State started to panic and sent a couple of long hail-marys downfield that weren't really near anyone. They managed to settle down and struck on a very disciplined attack (begun on a throw-in after a poor attempt to clear by Carolina, if I remember correctly) when King's shot off the crossbar landed in the right place for Cisse to put it away. A few missed opportunities for Carolina, for sure, but a superb effort on defense and countering from the midfield by State as well. State's size advantage seemed to equalize Carolina's advantage handling the ball -- and State seemed at least as fast as Carolina in almost every match up.
WOW! That is all I can say after watching that game. UNC got kinda luck. They tied on a PK after a hand ball. This was the best game I have seen since the upset win over Virginia in 1999(?) when State scored as the clock ran out to win 2-1 in regulation.
You could say both UNC goals were lucky. For the first, a foul was called on State about 25 yards in front of their own goal. On the IDK, the State defenders went airborne to block, one of them with his arms outstretched, a mental error which cost them when he blocked the ball his arms. The resulting PK (for a handball in the box) brought UNC to a 1-1 draw. The second goal came on a call that I didn't quite understand -- a State player made a sliding play on a 50-50 ball just in front of his own 18 line which bounced straight to an oncoming UNC attacker, who then tripped over the once-sliding player (still on the ground); the grounded player got called for the foul. I guess he was called for dangerous play(?). The UNC DK was deflected and seemed to go right through the hands of State's 'keeper, just under the crossbar. He shoulda put fists on that one. That gave UNC a 2-1 lead, with only a minute or so left.
A goal and an assist for Aaron King, State's big Sr. forward. That brings him up to six goals in as many games (the helper was his first since his sophomore year) this season and should put him in good shape for being named All ACC first team for the third year in a row. Aside from maybe James Riley, King might be the least-hyped player of his caliber to come out of the ACC in years. But, the kid is moving his way up the MLS draft board and I would guess he's a second round pick this winter. Let's face it, there just aren't a lot of 6-2 forwards in MLS who can put the ball in the net and that's gonna get a lot of teams interested in him. Before this year, he averaged a goal every other college game, and now he's scoring at an even better rate, so teams will like his strike rate. He's from Colorado and played for Boulder Rapids Reserves PDL team in 04 (he played for one of the Carolina PDL teams this summer) so we know the Rapids, at least, are well aware of him. That, and Fernando Clavijo supposedly has a good rapport with Tarantini. I still think Maryland's Jason Garey will be the ACC Player of the Year this season, but right now, he, King and Wake's Justin Moose are pretty much neck-and-neck.
What are you talking about? State had just as many chances. UNC screwed up by playing possetion soccer until they got behind. #15 was fast. He needed to do more 1 on 1 dribbling and shoot a little more. I just hope the football game next weekend isn't as exciting. NCSU 28 UNC 17.
It is just an opinion! I felt that UNC had 'better' chances and forced the state goalie to do more. Just one persons observation.
You have been misinformed. At least 6 players from CASL are starting or playing regularly, Boole, Ford, Sherrard, Bickford, Harrington, Hughes, and Haines would be playing if not for season ending ankle surgery.
CASL and UNC have had a cozy relationship for a number of years. Of the CASL players mentioned only Harrington (via Bradenton), Sherrad and the two goalies have been consistent starters (Boole has started 4 in games in 2 seasons and Haines played in 2 games last year). FACT CHECK: UNC has recruited 21 CASL players during the last 4 years. Many never played in a SINGLE game. You mention 7 players (3-4 starters). What happened to the rest?
I am a student at UNC and I have talked to some of the lads from the CASL club who were asked to leave the team by Bolowich because he needed room for the next recruits. I have also talked to some of the lads still on the team and they say the same thing. Bolowich recruits the best players he can from where ever to play for us. The out of state tuition is expensive but in state is very reasonable. The players say the CASL or other in state players are recruited with no travel cost to recruit and no scholarship money used. Bolowich's theory is recruit 10 in state each year and find 2 free starters and throws the other 8 away over time as he needs room on the roster. Dont forget Bolowich finds his starters and his 3 subs and that is the rotation for the year. The other players sit the bench. I noticed the other ACC sides often sub 5-7 players....winning sides like Maryland, Duke, UVA and Wake. The players say there is a loss of 5 or so every year. The players say that Bolowich sometimes has used different reasons for asking players to leave. Sometimes it is just to say to the players that you are not going to play and they quit. Brad Darby came in with the big class of CASL lads Harrington and all. He redshirted freshman and played alot last year. This FAll after he got hurt Bolowich told him he would not play because when he recovered he would be too far behind so he quit. Dont forget Bolowich is German and if you watch him on the sideline you can see how non emotional he is. The players say they dont have 2 converstation per year with him. He runs the side like a European pro team if you can play now I need you. If you can not you need to leave so I can bring in someone who can play now. Bolowich wins and has been here 17 years and will be here for 17 more. The boys tell me he makes over $200k with camps. Better job than in the EPL no worries about getting sacked. Also very important who stays as a practice player is grades....GPA....The players say if you make 4.0 you can stay as a practice player. If you make 2.0 you are in danger zone. Bolowich is clever and needs the 4.0 GPA to average with the starters with low GPA like the center back All ACC freshman Sherrard who had a 1.3 in the Fall. This Sherrard lad is a brillant player by the way.
I went back and checked UNC's media guides for the past four years and found only 19 players with CASL affiliation listed (I may have missed some, if they weren't mentioned in the releases). Here's how they ended up - players who have started this year are in bold: 2002 Ford Williams – starter 2003 Michael Harrington – starter David Boole – starter Brad Darby – off team Michael Fortier – off team Justin Hughes – backup keeper Casey Shandley – off team (never played) Ted Odgers –starter Bryan O’Neal – off team (never played) Lee Superville - backup forward Chris Showers - off team (never played) 2004 Zach Haines – backup forward, injured Jimmy Holcombe – off team (never played) Michael Walters – backup defender Andre Sherard –starter 2005 Steven Bickford – starter/backup Michael Callahan – starter Tim Evans – backup defender Jacob Wescoe – 3rd or 4th keeper The huge 2003 class had a lot of CASL dropouts, but otherwise I don't see much of an issue. So far this year, either 6 or 7 CASL players have been starters in every game. Over the past four years, only four have left the team without having played. Obviously, there's going to be a lot of competition for playing time on a team that brings in two or three youth national teamers every year. There's no reason to assume a player will make the cut just because he played for an elite club.
I agree with NGV ... I don't see much of an issue either. My guess is that a coach never entices a player from a local club with promises of PT ... he offers them an opportunity to compete ... and most of these CASL guys were "the man" on their club and/or HS teams ... and they truly believe they will earn that PT. But it doesn't always work out that way. Any good coach will periodically give his players a realistic assessment of their progress and their potential role going forward. It's then up to the player to decide if he wants to put in the work that may be required to move up the depth chart ... and some decide that it's not worth it. But what's the downside? They're still students at a great university, one that's pretty hard to gain admission to from some of the more highly populated counties (like Wake) even with a good GPA and SAT. Life could be worse. Could they have gone to a smaller school and played more? Probably. It's the traditional trade-off between big fish/small pond and vice versa.