North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Soccer Faces Virginia at ACC Tournament
11/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
NC State Faces Virginia at ACC Tournament: The ninth-seeded NC State men's soccer team will face eighth-seeded Virginia in the first round of the ACC Tournament this Tuesday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. This years tournament will be held at SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary, N.C.
The Wolfpack (6-8-3, 1-6-1 ACC) and the Cavaliers (10-6-2, 1-5-2 ACC) already had one exciting battle this season. Back on September 22, NC State tied then-No. 3 Virginia in Raleigh, 2-2.
Although the two teams will be playing for the 63rd time, NCSU and UVA have only met in the ACC Tournament on four previous occasions, with Virginia holding a slight 2-1-1 edge in such match-ups.
NC  State in ACC Tournament: Since the ACC Tournament started in 1987, NC  State holds an all-time record of 8-16-5 in the event. N C State was the runner-up in the inaugural tournament in 1987 losing to North Carolina in the finals, 4-3.
NC  State won the 1990 ACC Tournament, the same year the Wolfpack advanced the the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. That season, NC  State entered the tournament with a 3-3 mark in ACC  regular season play, but downed Maryland (3-1), Clemson (3-1), and Virginia (2-1) to win the title.
During the fist six years of the ACC Tournament (1987-92), NC  State held a record of 7-2-4. The Wolfpack only lost once in the first round (2-1 to Duke in 1989), and was eliminated three times on penalty kicks (the game is recorded as a tie).
The Pack’s success has changed since then, as NCSU is 1-14-1 dating back to the 1993 tournament. Last season was one of the most exciting games in recent years, as NC State came from a goal down with less than four minutes remaining to advance to the quarterfinals with a 4-3 win over Virginia Tech Ronnie Bouemboue recorded a hat trick for the Pack, with two of his goals coming late in the second half. The win was the first for NC State at the ACC Tournament in its previous 15 games.
The Pack did advance in 2003, knocking off No. 8 UNC on penalty kicks, then falling to No. 2 Maryland 2-1 in the semifinals. Before last season, the Pack’s last win in the ACC Tournament was a 5-2 defeat of Maryland in 1992.
The Series Against Virginia: Virginia leads the overall series against NC State 40-14-8, including this season's 2-2 tie back in September. The Cavs hold a decisive advantage in Charlottesville, 25-2-2, but the series has been pretty even in games played in Raleigh with Virginia holding a slight edge, 13-11-5.
Virginia also leads in games played at a neutral site, 2-1-1, but only four of the previous 62 match-ups have not been on one of the two teams home field.
This will be the first meeting at the ACC Tournament between the two schools since 2000, when Virginia won a quarterfinals contest 1-0 in Winston-Salem. Overall, NC State is 1-2-1 against UVA in the ACC Tournament.
2000 UVA, 1-0
1998 UVA, 4-0 (ot)
1990 NCSU, 2-1
1988 Tie, 0-0
(UVA advances on PKs, 4-2)
Earlier This Season Versus Virginia: The Pack and the Cavs already had one tough battle earlir this season, when NC State played then-No. 3 Virginia to a 2-2 tie September 22 in Raleigh, N.C.
The Wolfpack struck first in the 17th minute and held the lead at the half. The Cavaliers answered with two goals in just over three minutes, before NC State scored the equalizer in the 69th minute. The two squads would play the remaining 20 minutes of regulation and 20 more minutes of overtime with neither netting the game winner.
Both teams played a physical game, which saw a combined 46 fouls and nine yellow cards.
Lassiter Named to All-ACC Freshmen Team: Freshman Tyler Lassiter was named to the ACC All-Freshmen Team announced by the league office on Monday. For the fifth straight year the Pack has had a member on that squad. He follows Santiago Fusilier (2004), El Hadj Cisse (2005), Ronnie Bouemboue (2005), and Alan Sanchexz (2007) as NC State players to make the ACC All-Freshmen Team.
Lassiter has started all 17 games this far for the Pack, as an outside defender, and scored one goal on the season thus far.
Widman Between the Pipes: Last season, NC State could not settle on one keeper in the Pack's goal, and split time between two different first-year keepers. This season was much different however, as sophomore Christopher Widman has played all 1,591 minutes in goal for NC State.
Widman has made 72 saves on the season, and also has four shutouts to his credit thus far.
Tough Scheduling: While teams that play the ACC know its one of the top conferences around, the Pack this year might have found that out the hard way. NC State faced five ranked ACC opponents this season, including four that were at least ranked No. 6 or higher at the time.
NC State went a combined 0-4-1 against those top-25 opponents from the ACC, facing three such schools on the road. The Pack tied then-No. 3 Virginia, but was outscored 11-1 in the other contests.
NC State also faced a non-conference ranked team, pulling out a tie with No. 12 St. Louis in the Duke/adidas Tournament back in early September.
