North Carolina State University Athletics
Carpenter: Preparing for Maryland
9/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Editor’s Note: Junior Lucas Caprenter has been one of the Pack’s starting outside defenders each of the last two seasons. The 23rd-ranked Wolfpack plays host to No. 4 Maryland this Saturday night.
Approaching my junior year there was a lot of talk about the success of the soccer team NC State will have in 2009. Some people projected us to finish the season like we have the past two seasons, with around a .500 record. Simultaneously, other people have projected us to finish the season in the middle of the ACC conference with the potential to earn a birth in the NCAA tournament.
Nevertheless, I’ve never been a player who reads into this kind of chatter and all this talk went out the window when our preseason started at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, August 13th. I can’t imagine a single player thinking about preseason rankings or our projected finish while we were running our timed three mile fitness test around the track that night.
This was the beginning of my third preseason and I could already notice that there was a different feeling amongst the team, something that has never been there before. Everyone had a different approach to this preseason than previous seasons. Players took the attitude that “now is the time to push ourselves knowing it will reflect in our games”.
It is hard for me to put into words how important and vital this positive attitude is toward achieving the teams’ ultimate goal, which is winning championships. Even though it is early in the year, all I have to do is look at our current record (4-1) and national ranking (#23 this week), and compare that to last year’s record at this time, 0-3-1, to see how this new team attitude has already been paying off.
If I were to only tribute our success, thus far, to my teammates and coaches, then I would be leaving out a HUGE part of what makes Wolfpack soccer successful, and that is the fans that continually fill up the stands at Dail Soccer Field. As a team, we love to play at home and we feed off the energy that our fans create which motivates us to play well in front of them. It is amazing to glance up in the stands and see standing room only, then hear the cheers and support throughout the game. We truly feel the home advantage this season.
We are looking forward to this weekend’s game against a strong Maryland team and expect a very good match up as well as a result. The bottom line is that we need an ACC win, and this will be a great test for us.
Approaching my junior year there was a lot of talk about the success of the soccer team NC State will have in 2009. Some people projected us to finish the season like we have the past two seasons, with around a .500 record. Simultaneously, other people have projected us to finish the season in the middle of the ACC conference with the potential to earn a birth in the NCAA tournament.
Nevertheless, I’ve never been a player who reads into this kind of chatter and all this talk went out the window when our preseason started at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, August 13th. I can’t imagine a single player thinking about preseason rankings or our projected finish while we were running our timed three mile fitness test around the track that night.
This was the beginning of my third preseason and I could already notice that there was a different feeling amongst the team, something that has never been there before. Everyone had a different approach to this preseason than previous seasons. Players took the attitude that “now is the time to push ourselves knowing it will reflect in our games”.
It is hard for me to put into words how important and vital this positive attitude is toward achieving the teams’ ultimate goal, which is winning championships. Even though it is early in the year, all I have to do is look at our current record (4-1) and national ranking (#23 this week), and compare that to last year’s record at this time, 0-3-1, to see how this new team attitude has already been paying off.
If I were to only tribute our success, thus far, to my teammates and coaches, then I would be leaving out a HUGE part of what makes Wolfpack soccer successful, and that is the fans that continually fill up the stands at Dail Soccer Field. As a team, we love to play at home and we feed off the energy that our fans create which motivates us to play well in front of them. It is amazing to glance up in the stands and see standing room only, then hear the cheers and support throughout the game. We truly feel the home advantage this season.
We are looking forward to this weekend’s game against a strong Maryland team and expect a very good match up as well as a result. The bottom line is that we need an ACC win, and this will be a great test for us.
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