Wolfpack remain undefeated

It was a great day for the N.C . State faithful as they defeated Old Dominion University by a margin of 4-1 in hugely one-sided encounter and continued their undefeated spree for the season.

ODU , fresh from a loss against East Carolina University by the same margin, had no answer to the Pack as the offense ran amok. It only took the Pack three minutes to find the net as freshman Stephanie Bronson scored her first ever goal in the Wolfpack colors.

After some neat interplay, sophomore midfielder Ariela Schreibeis found some space and shot from the edge of the box, only for the keeper to deflect the effort, which Bronson promptly kneed into the net to put the Wolfpack up early in the game.

The Pack, brimming with confidence after the opener, created chance after chance. In the 16th minute, senior forward Tanya Cain, after making some beautiful touches on the ball and shrugging off the two defenders that were marking her, chose to shoot at the keeper only to see her effort blocked.

The game stayed one-sided in N.C . State’s favor until the Pack created an opportunity that was reminiscent of the one seen in the game against Navy, as Cain was brought down in the box only for the referee to point directly to the spot.

The Wolfpack soon doubled their lead as senior Alex Berger, who had also converted a spot kick in the previous match, stepped up and slotted the ball coolly in the top right beyond the reach of the keeper, to double her tally for the season and her career.

ODU , who had remained quiet until then, soon started with a volley of shots as the Wolfpack defense started looking shaky. The Lady Monarchs continued their onslaught as they closed the half on a high with eight shots and five on target, the Pack one and two fewer, respectively.

The second half started brightly for the Monarchs as they took advantage of some sloppy defending. A complacent Wolfpack defense failed collectively as No. 12 Lisa Bernardini , in the 47th minute, went past the defenders to shoot the ball past the keeper to halve the lead and put pressure on the Pack defense.

Goalkeeper Kim Kern, who had kept a clean sheet in each of the previous games, was evidently disappointed on giving up the goal.

“I am never happy to give up a goal,” Kern said. “It was a save that I should have made.”

Despite coming under intense pressure, the Wolfpack managed to turn things around by making changes, which proved fruitful as the Pack managed to survive  multiple attacks by the opposition and slowly started to regain control of the game.

“The formation they were playing wasn’t anything like what we normally play against,” Kern said. “It took a while to get used to it. We switched up our formation to match theirs.”

But the Pack wasn’t going to keep quiet, as soon after, in the 55th minute, beginning with some neat passing by Berger and Cain, freshman forward Julia Sandridge sent a perfect ball in from the edge of the box, only for senior midfielder Kristina Argiroff to head in her seventh career goal that was way beyond the keeper’s reach.

“Berger played a great ball to Tanya,” Argiroff said. “Tanya had a great pass that I personally missed, but Julia was there to pick it up and played a beautiful ball right over the top and I caught it from there”

Paying a tribute to the freshmen that have joined the team plus the dynamic new forward line, Argiroff seemed confident about the ongoing season.

“We are actually really lucky to have great freshmen coming, they are picking up right where we left off last year,” Argiroff said. “We have fast forwards; forwards that can handle the ball well. We kinda have every part of the game.”

Ahead by three goals to one, the Pack didn’t stop there. in the 57th minute, Cain showed some brilliant footwork to fake the ODU right back, turning in to curl in the ball in the top right corner from 15 yards. out to score her 13th career goal.

The opposition had little to show after, with only one effort in the 77th minute crashing against the crossbar, providing something to talk about as State went on to take the win and continue their undefeated streak this season.

Coach Steve Springthorpe claimed he was very satisfied with his team’s offense.

“We were happy about getting four goals,” Springthorpe said. “Tanya was aggressive, picking up balls and beating players one-on-one. Bronson was doing a good job out on the wings trying to beat players one-on-one, as well. We were just aggressive getting to the goal.”

He seemed pleased with the way the offense reacted in comparison to the previous games.

“We finished our opportunities well,” Springthorpe said. “In the other games we generated 14 to 15 shots, but we just didn’t finish. This time, we did. So, credit to our forwards.”

On being questioned about how he felt about playing LSU in the upcoming game, he claimed the team would take a day off before starting preparations for that game.

“LSU is a good team from the SEC,” Springthorpe said. “It will be a challenge.”

The Pack plays LSU today at 5:30 p.m . at Dail Soccer Stadium.