The NC State women’s soccer team posted its second draw in four days on Sunday, 2-2 against UNC-Greensboro, after coming out even versus Western Carolina on Thursday.
A lethargic Pack gave up a pair of first-half goals to the Spartans but second-half strikes from freshman forward Kayla Saager and redshirt sophomore forward Alexa Allen leveled the match.
Thursday’s game was nearly the opposite, as junior defender Dayna Tomayko gave the Wolfpack an early 1-0 lead, but the Catamounts clawed back late in the second half.
Despite 20 minutes of overtime in both matches, neither team could find a winner.
On Thursday, the Pack struck within five minutes. Tomayko made a long run forward from left back, and a quick flurry of interior passes eventually found the junior inside the box for an easy finish—her second in two games. With the early goal, the game seemed under State’s control, and the Pack dominated the rest of the half, taking 15 shots to the Catamounts 10 and the majority of the game’s corner kicks.
With the statistical edge, the Pack’s failure to find the back of the net was something of a surprise, but Western’s goalkeeper Carly Tinstman recorded seven saves on the night to keep the match close.
When you don’t finish opponents, even the smallest mistakes can allow them back into the game, and the Catamounts took advantage of weak set-piece defending from State to level the score in the 82nd minute of play.
Even with two 10-minute overtime periods, the Pack couldn’t find a winner but avoided slipping to a defeat against a non-conference opponent.
Wolfpack Head Coach Tim Santoro was upset his team didn’t execute, but recognized the team is still building and improving and lacks a number of starters, while Alexa Allen made her return from an ankle injury and lacked peak fitness.
“We have a lot of injuries right now,” Santoro said. “We have three or four key injuries, so we have to go to our depth and try new things.”
With sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Stelljes sidelined, fellow sophomore Karly Gustafson played every minute of the double-overtime thriller, and senior defender Kasey Koballa came off the bench to play big minutes for the Pack.
Sunday’s match in Greensboro saw the Pack coming from the opposite direction.
Spartan forward Chesney White scored twice in the first half, finishing off a cross in the 8th minute before dribbling past the State defense to fire past Stelljes, who was back in the net for the Wolfpack, in the 32nd minute.
State looked disorganized in the back and struggled with Greensboro’s quickness in midfield. The normally solid Wolfpack interior looked out-of-sync, and Saager’s normally effective, bullish play up front simply wasn’t coming off.
The halftime whistle, however, allowed the Pack to regroup and despite fairly inconsistent and imprecise play, dominated proceedings on the stats sheet, outshooting the Spartans 16-4.
In the 69th minute, sophomore forward Brittany Stanko beat her defender and sent in a low cross. The Greensboro keeper mishandled, and Saager was on hand to tap home.
Less than two minutes later, State found its second through Alexa Allen. A corner kick from Tomayko found its way to the top of the box, and the sophomore forward’s volley deflected off a Greensboro player and into the net to earn the 2-2 draw.
With tough ACC games coming, State needs to put together a consistent performance over the entire game, according to Tomayko.
“It’s comforting to know that we have all the components, we just need the 90-minute performance,” Tomayko said. “It’s gonna happen, you can see it on the field when we really looked good.”
After the draws, Santoro said the group still has a ways to go before facing the brunt of the schedule.
“We have a lot more to do for ACC play, which starts on Sept. 21 against Wake Forest, but we will get there,” Santoro said.
