The Wolfpack goes down 2-0 to Illinois Chicago in Raleigh today. A very lackluster performance from the Pack, who were outshot 22-7. Of those 7 shots, only a couple were on goal. UIC's keeper didn't have much to do. On the other hand, Mitchell Watson made 9 saves for State. Defensively, State put absolutely NO pressure on UIC, giving their backs and mids plenty of time and space to maneuver and find the open man. UIC basically dominated this game, and they looked like a decent team, but State was very very flat. They can't blame this one on a lack of facilities. Correct me if I'm wrong, but an ACC team should take are of business against a team like UIC, especially at home.
The UIC program has been busy recruiting a lot of foreign born & second generation players. While they may not have the pedigree of the ODP dandies enrolled on Tobacco Road, they bring a professional attitude when they want to. Earlier this season UIC lost to Eastern Illinois 8-0, yet finished third in their conference. State sucks, and UIC can beat them as well as anyone.
With no disrespect intended to the might Flames of UIC, NC State is just PATHETIC. It's bad enough that in the past 5 years, counting this season, that the Pack are 1-28-1 in the ACC and have lost in the first round of the last 4 ACC Tournaments and will likely do so again this year. But, in the same time span, they are only 21-28-5 against non-conference opponents. What makes that even worse is that in 98 and 99 the Pack managed to be respectable out of the conference, going 5-6 in 98 and 5-2-2 (yes, a winning record!) in 99. But, that means the past 3 seasons, while also going winless in the ACC, State is a mere 11-20-3 outside of the conference. The players, not to mention the rest of the conference, deserves much better. This is the second straight senior class that will leave Raleigh having won only 1 ACC game in their college careers and next year the Pack will have NO ONE on the roster who has experienced anything but a loss in conference games. I know that State AD Lee Fowler thinks that Tarantini is at an unfair advantage in terms of recruiting because the Pack's facilities are sub-standard compared to those in the rest of the ACC. But while that excuse may work for the 1-28-1 ACC record and bagel in the conference tournament the past 5 years, it doesn't come close to explaining the 21-28-5 record outside the conference. Sadly, that points to something else. It shows a program that isn't able to take adavantage of its place in the country' premier soccer conference to get players good enough to win non-conference games. And it points to a coach who can't get his players to listen to him and play on the same page so that they can win against foes who shouldn't be able to regular beat an ACC team. George Tarantini was once a very good coach. He used to make the NCAA Tournament regularly and in 1990 he won the ACC Tourney and made the Final Four. He also produced great players who went on to bigger and better things like Tab Ramos, Roy Lassiter, Dario Brose, Heny Guttierez and Scott Schweitzer. His early career at State earned him the right to try and turn things around. But 5 staight bad seasons is not a blip or an abberation. It shows where the program is and that is in total decline. The only way this changes is if State gets a new coach. Lee Fowler, bite the bullet, do your job and fire George Tarantini.
I was working at UIC in the 90s and got to see the program grow from below average to respectable. But this is an off-year, and for an ACC team to go down at home 2-0 to this edition of the Flames is, well, just reread Mr. Mibut's post.
An ACC team should, but State never would. UIC's a very respectable program out of the Horizon league. State lost to Butler in similar fashion a couple of years ago, would get pounded by the likes of UWM and frankly would probably struggle against Loyola. Watching State play is like watching a badly coached U14 game. No team defending, no attacking shape, everything individually done. To make matters worse, Tarantini coaches every touch of the ball to the point of complete distraction to his players. No quality player in his right mind would want to play at State under those conditions, ACC or not. As I said in an earlier post, good coaches abound if State ever gets serious about it's soccer program.