For N.C. State men's soccer, a new head of the ’Pack

The man in N.C. State apparel barking assignments on Ludwig Field tonight won't be the one Sasho Cirovski might have expected to see last year.

And that may not be such a good thing for the Terrapins men's soccer coach.

Since arriving at this university in 1993, Cirovski has been able to count on two things from the Wolfpack: George Tarantini will call the shots, and the Terps likely won't lose.

In his 18 seasons facing Tarantini, Cirovski won or tied 85 percent of his games against N.C. State. But that era came to a bitter end last November.

Hoping to restore N.C. State's once-proud soccer tradition, newly hired Athletic Director Debbie Yow forced Tarantini — the program's all-time winningest coach — to retire after finishing in the bottom third of the conference for five straight years.

Replacing Tarantini is former Butler coach Kelly Findley, a two-time Horizon League Coach of the Year who led the Bulldogs to an undefeated regular season last year.

And since arriving in Raleigh, N.C., nine months ago, Findley has quickly transformed N.C. State (2-1-2, 0-0 ACC) into a team worth fearing in the ACC.

"[N.C. State] has sort of a new energy in their program," Cirovski said yesterday. "That can make them scary."

The Wolfpack defeated then-No. 9 SMU, 1-0, in overtime on Sept. 2 and nearly stole another season-defining win against then-No. 8 UC Santa Barbara two days later. Despite a spectacular performance from goalkeeper Fabian Otte, the Gauchos scored in the 15th minute and held on for a 1-0 win.

Otte, one of four European-born starters for N.C. State, has anchored the Wolfpack's defense, certainly their biggest strength. Led by his 14 saves, N.C. State sits atop the ACC in goals allowed with just two through their first five games. They didn't surrender a goal for the first 314 minutes of the season.

But the No. 1 Terps (6-0, 1-0 ACC) aren't fretting over the numbers. Last Friday, after all, they routed a Boston College team that had previously allowed a similarly impressive three goals.

"We don't really worry about their stats too much," forward Casey Townsend said. "We're just going to do what we do best. We're going to attack them, and hopefully things go our way."

And so far, they have. With forwards Townsend and Patrick Mullins and midfielder John Stertzer, the Terps have outscored opponents, 20-5.

But offense is only half the game, and the Terps understand that their defense left much to be desired Tuesday night at UMBC. Although they stole a 4-3 win in double overtime, the Terps' backline allowed an unranked Retrievers squad to notch two goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Cirovski's squad understands that a similar defensive effort won't be good enough to tally a win against an ACC foe.

"As long as we just refocus our commitment to the principles of defending," defender Alex Lee said, "we'll be fine."

letourneau@umdbk.com