Led by a talented group of underclassmen, the NC State women’s soccer team had its most successful season in over 20 years, logging an 11-9-1 record overall and a 4-5-1 conference record, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament and also qualifying for the ACC Tournament.
The past two seasons, State struggled immensely and failed to win a conference game and totaled just six wins over that time. The season before, head coach Tim Santoro’s first season, the team went 7-12 with a 2-11 ACC record.
Picked in the preseason to finish near the bottom of the ACC in Santoro’s fourth season with the program, the Wolfpack tallied 11 wins, the most for the team since 1996, which is the last time NC State qualified for the NCAA Tournament before this season. The four conference victories represent the highest total since 1995.
After starting off the season 1-2, the Wolfpack strung together six-straight wins, including four-straight shutouts heading into conference play. The team then went on to beat UNC-Chapel Hill 2-1 in a stunning road upset, marking the Wolfpack’s first victory over the Tar Heels in over 25 years and just the second overall. The team also managed victories over Boston College, Wake Forest and Pitt to reach four ACC wins and qualify for its first ACC Tournament since 2006.
While NC State fell to Notre Dame on a late goal by the Fighting Irish, the team still received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pack upset Big Ten champion Minnesota in penalty kicks in the first round and defeated Pepperdine in the second round to advance to its first Sweet Sixteen since 1995.
The Pack fell to Santa Clara 3-0 in the third round to end its historic breakout season, but were without junior Cailyn Boch and freshman Kia Rankin due to injury.
NC State will lose only Rachel Cox and Gladys Loyas to graduation while returning the majority of the starting lineup. Freshmen Tziarra King and Rankin both had excellent seasons. King was named to the All-ACC third team and posted a team-high 18 points after scoring eight goals and connecting for one assist. Rankin was named to the All-ACC freshman team and logged 13 points, second only to King in points.
Sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Wootten had an outstanding season, earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week multiple times over the course of the season and starting all 22 games. Freshman Kristina Schuster and sophomore Ella Bonner also provided excellent defense while playing on the Pack’s backline the entire season.
The Wolfpack will look to improve upon its remarkable 2016 season as it will presumably return nearly all of its young starting rotation and redshirt junior Jackie Stengel, who missed most of the season with injuries but was previously an All-ACC performer.
After this year shattered expectations, the Pack’s future looks promising as it will enter the 2017 season with more experience as it will try to repeat the success of the 2016 season.
