The N.C. State women’s soccer team fell to Syracuse in heartbreaking, double overtime fashion on Sunday in Raleigh. The loss marks the ninth straight defeat for the skidding Wolfpack.
Sunday’s game was tightly contested throughout, with each team earning plenty of goal-scoring chances. State finished with 16 shots, including nine on goal, while the Orange took a whopping 23 shots, 13 of which were on target.
After saving 11 shots on Sunday, State’s redshirt freshman goalkeeper Mackenzie Stelljes now ranks second in the ACC in total saves with 59, trailing only to Pittsburgh’s redshirt junior goalie Nicole D’Agostino.
The Wolfpack (6-11-0, 1-10-0 ACC) continued its recent struggles on Sunday against ACC opponents. Even though the ACC is regarded as one of the best women’s soccer conferences in the country, the Orange (7-9-1, 3-7-1 ACC) had won only two conference games prior to Sunday’s matchup with the Pack.
The first half of Sunday’s game was evenly contested by both teams, with the score still deadlocked at 0-0 at halftime. State was the more offensively aggressive side in the first half, recording nine shots and three corner kicks in the first 45 minutes.
Head coach Tim Santoro decided to employ an attacking 4-3-3 formation, which gave the Pack an offensive mentality. But despite the numerous chances it created, the Pack was unable to find the back of the net in the first half.
Syracuse turned the tables in the second half by coming out of the break aggressively. The Orange took 10 of the first 11 shots of the half, including the shot in the 61st minute that broke the deadlock.
Syracuse’s goal came after two unsuccessful shots in the box, the first ricocheting of a crossbar and the second being saved by Stelljes. But Stelljes’ save deflected right into the path of Syracuse’s sophomore defender Taylor Haenlin, who knocked in her first goal of the season to give the Orange a 1-0 lead.
Less than two minutes after Haenlin’s goal, freshman forward Jackie Stengel tied the match at 1-1 after finishing a cross from sophomore forward Caroline Gentry into the box. The goal marked Stengel’s ninth of the season, tying her for fourth in goals scored in the ACC this year.
Neither team could score a go-ahead goal in regulation, sending the match to sudden-death overtime.
Syracuse scored the game-winning goal with 1:57 left on the clock in the second overtime. Freshman forward Stephanie Skilton fired home for the Orange on a two-on-one breakaway off an assist from junior midfielder Alexis Koval.
State’s next match is at Duke on Thursday night. The Devils beat No. 7 Notre Dame 2-1 on Sunday and are tenth in the ACC standings, four spots above the Wolfpack.
