Having attended that VT game three years ago, it’s a little different than Colby describes it. Cary has a 10,000 seat soccer-only stadium that the NWSL Courage uses for its home games, but that’s not where the NCAA games were played. Right next to the stadium is a field with a few rows of concrete stands on one side (and no press box; Colby was right about that) they call Koka Booth Stadium, and that’s where the NCAA games were played. They had a press platform on the concourse of the big stadium and used the concession stands and restrooms of the big stadium.
The reason why is that UNC, which was the host school that weekend, was renovating what is now its 5000-seat Dorrance Field that year and played its home games at Booth Stadium that fall. So the NCAA games were played there too. (Why UNC didn’t play in the big stadium, I have no idea; maybe the Courage was afraid they would chew up the field). Cary is 22 miles from the UNC campus, kinda like if the Hogs had to play in Bentonville for a year.
But it was a weird atmosphere. There probably weren’t 200 people there including both teams; Arkansas might have had 20 fans and that might be an overestimate. Of course UNC played right afterward and a few more fans showed up.
I think his main point was they played an NCAA Tournament match in a place with zero atmosphere. Obviously playing in Fayetteville is very different.
Yup. I was surprised at the VT coach saying his girls didn’t handle the atmosphere last night well. It gets pretty crazy at UNC at the new field (they tied UNC 2-2 in late September).
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