On a chilly night at Dail Soccer Stadium, the NC State women’s soccer team took down Miami by a score of 1-0 thanks to an early goal by junior forward Kia Rankin.
The Wolfpack (10-4-3, 3-3-2 ACC) and the Hurricanes (5-8-3, 2-5-1 ACC) traded scoring chances throughout the game, but apart from the opening minutes, both teams struggled to find the back of the net.
NC State wasted no time to get on the board, scoring just a minute and a half into the game. Rankin picked up the ball on the edge of the box on a pass by junior midfielder Michaella van Maanen and fired off a left-footed shot. The shot deflected off of a Hurricanes defender and found its way into the back of the net to give the Pack an early lead.
“Having [the lead] so early in the game is really nice,” senior goalkeeper Sydney Wootten said. “But then you have to realize you have basically 90 minutes left to play the game and anything can happen in that time, so you have to stay solid throughout.”
Neither team struggled to create chances during the game, with the Wolfpack firing off nine shots, a majority of which were blocked by Miami defenders. The Hurricanes recorded 14 shots in total but were unable to score past Wootten.
“We left some chances out there, but we did limit them to a lot of stuff,” head coach Tim Santoro said. “They had a couple in the second half, a couple flurries off those corners that were a little dangerous, but for the most part we kept things outside the box.”
Wootten recorded eight saves on the night including an impressive double save on a corner kick midway through the second half. This game marked Wootten’s fifth clean sheet of the season, but for Wootten making saves is not all up to her.
“Its nothing spectacular I don’t think.” Wootten said, “The team works really hard and they put in a lot of effort to give me saves that I can make for them. I didn’t really think much of it. I think of it more as just doing my job.”
Wootten has been a crucial player for the Wolfpack, not only this season but all four years she has been on the team. Wootten has recorded 23 clean sheets in her career, putting her among the top four for career shutouts in the program’s history.
“She’s been so important for us for four years,” Santoro said. “You can’t even put words to it. To have a goalkeeper that is that reliable and can cover our butts when things break down, you need it in this league.”
The team will be back in action on Sunday at 1 p.m. against Louisville at Dail Soccer Stadium for the team’s Senior Day.
