Annelise Thorn
Sophmore defender Ella Bonner kicks the ball down the field and past a defender during the game against Florida State University on Saturday in Dail Soccer Stadium. Ella played the entire 90 minutes of the game.
The NC State women’s soccer team fell to No. 9 Florida State 1-0 Saturday afternoon at Dail Soccer Stadium.
The Wolfpack (9-5-1, 3-3-1 ACC) hoped to end a losing streak to the Seminoles by beating them for the first time since 1998. The Seminoles came out aggressively and looked to attack early, but a stellar defensive effort by NC State kept Florida State scoreless in the first half. However, offensively the Pack did not appear to assert itself as it did not even register a single shot attempt versus the four shot attempts from FSU in the opening half.
The Wolfpack came out aggressively in the second half of play, as NC State took its first shot attempt just a mere one second into the half. Senior forward Rachel Cox had a good look, but it was saved by FSU goalkeeper Cassie Miller.
NC State had plenty of other chances to score early in the second, but came up empty on a total of four shot attempts in the half’s first 10 minutes.
“We had some really good looks, especially in the second half,” head coach Tim Santoro said. “They’re a good program, but you have to finish your chances when you have them.”
Florida State notched the first and only goal of the match in the 55th minute on an assist from sophomore midfielder Olivia Bergau to sophomore midfielder Megan Connolly, who kicked the ball just past State sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Wootten’s reach.
Despite the one Seminole goal, Wootten made a handful of quality saves throughout the match. The goalie racked up four saves, giving her best effort to keep Florida State off of the scoreboard.
The Pack had more than its fair share of opportunities to tie the score or take control, but was never able to take advantage. Key loose possessions leading to turnovers helped the Noles keep the ball away from their own goal.
With a little over seven minutes left in the match, an offside call against Florida State gave NC State a great chance to get the equalizer. Cox had a one-on-one matchup with Seminole goalkeeper Cassie Miller, but simply could not convert as Miller came up with a huge save.
The Seminoles tried their best to let the clock run down, but the Wolfpack was granted another opportunity to knot the match up in the 88th minute. Freshman midfielder Tziarra King kicked a good ball was not able to score on Miller, who made the save that secured the win for the Noles.
King believes the Wolfpack can elevate its game if they work on perfecting details and the smaller things.
“They’re close games,” said King. “It’s just a matter of little mistakes that we make. We just have to remember to keep pushing on and that we belong here.”
Despite his young team’s overall solid efforts against a top-10 opponent, Santoro was not content with the result.
“We’re not in this for close results,” Santoro said. “They’re learning what the finer points are that separate a win, a tie and a loss in a game when you play a good team. It’s a young team, but at this point in the season age doesn’t matter, they have to learn how to get a result.”
The Pack will take on another top-10 team in No. 5 Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia Thursday.