The NC State women’s soccer team will host Northwestern on Friday night at Dail Soccer Stadium in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wolfpack (10-6-3) is in the tournament for the third season in a row and is hosting the first game in the tournament for the second season in a row. After advancing to the Sweet 16 in 2016, the Wolfpack won one game in the tournament last year before losing to Princeton in penalty kicks.
Northwestern (10-4-4) was selected for the NCAA Tournament despite not qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament. 2018 is the fourth consecutive year that the Wildcats have made the tournament. Northwestern has won a game in each of the last three tournaments and advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2016.
The Wolfpack is led by junior midfielder Tziarra King with nine goals and 24 points. Junior forward Kia Rankin scored five goals on the season, second on the team, despite missing time early in the year due to injury.
Senior goalkeeper Sydney Wootten has been in net every minute this season and has 1.06 goals against average and a .794 save percentage. She has six shutouts this year.
Northwestern is led by Brenna Lovera, who has found the back of the net eight times this season. She is the only Wildcat with double-digit points this season with 19. Marisa Viggiano, Kayla Sharples and Nia Harris are the only other players who have scored multiple goals this season.
The Wildcats are good because of their defense, and goalkeeper Mackenzie Wood is a primary reason. She has played every minute this season, and has a 0.63 GAA with .854 save percentage. She has eight shutouts in 18 games played.
Wood has been spectacular this season, but she’s only a freshman. On the other hand, Wootten will be playing in her fifth tournament game in her career.
This game will likely be a defensive battle of two teams who have a lot of experience in the NCAA Tournament. King and Lovera are two of the best goal-scorers in the country. The game may come down to which team gets more opportunities for their star. If neither team has a distinct advantage there, it will likely come down to penalty kicks with two superb net-minders.
The winner of this game will face either Milwaukee or Santa Clara in the next round. UNC-Chapel Hill is the top seed in the bracket region.
The game will kick off at 7 p.m. at Dail Soccer Stadium in Raleigh. A broadcast of the game will be available on ACC Network Extra.
