Coming off a senior day loss in its regular season home finale against Louisville, the NC State women’s soccer team will square off against No. 11 Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia Thursday night to conclude its regular season.
The Wolfpack owns an overall record of 10-5-3, albeit with just a record of 3-4-2 in the ACC, putting the team in 11th place with 11 points on the season.
Although it’s a stark contrast to last season when the Pack finished third in the conference, it’s not as if the Wolfpack has been bad; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The team ranks 21st in RPI and has ranked wins in South Carolina and at Princeton while drawing ranked teams in Duke and Florida State. It’s fair to say that this team has outplayed its record, especially in conference play after several close losses and draws.
Virginia, on the other hand, has ascended to third place in the ACC by going 6-3 in conference this season with an overall record of 13-3, outscoring its opponents by a dominant 44-9 margin and outshooting them 280-83. The Cavaliers’ losses have all been to middle-of-the-road ACC teams, and the team is coming off a narrow 1-0 loss at the hands of Florida State Sunday.
For the Wolfpack, this match has both NCAA Tournament and ACC Tournament implications. With 11 points, the Pack sits behind Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Wake Forest in the standings. Since the ACC Tournament only takes the top eight teams in the conference, NC State would need to at least win against Virginia Thursday while hoping all of the aforementioned schools either end their matches in a tie or a loss.
It’s not implausible, however; Virginia Tech faces off against a Louisville team that is receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll, Notre Dame faces No. 10 Duke and Wake Forest will square off against No. 2 UNC-Chapel Hill. A win in this match for the Wolfpack would provide a huge boost to its resume for the NCAA Tournament and has the potential to vault them into the ACC Tournament.
When the Pack squared off against Virginia, the match ended in a scoreless draw in Raleigh last season. NC State will also be seeking its first victory over the Cavaliers since 2009.
Virginia will depend on its star freshman, Alexa Spaanstra. The talented midfielder leads the squad in points and is tied for the lead in goals with six. The Cavaliers’ team has solid depth as well, with five players total recording 10 points or more this season.
NC State has four of its own members totaling 10 points or more, with junior midfielder Tziarra King responsible for an impressive 22 points of her own with eight goals. Junior forward Kia Rankin is second on the team with 14 points, and four of her five goals have been game-winners.
The Wolfpack will be playing with its tournament hopes and conference standing on the line, so expect a competitive match between two good teams.
The match will take place at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville, Virginia and is set to start at 6 p.m. The match can be seen on RSN.
