After almost 90 minutes of scoreless play, senior forward Jameese Joseph sent the Campbell Camels home on a heroic match-winning goal to give NC State a 1-0 win on Thursday, Aug. 25 at Dail Soccer Field.
Just days after shocking VCU with her go-ahead goal in the 87th minute, Joseph brought the magic once again. With just 10 seconds left in the match, she received a Hail Mary pass from senior midfielder Jaiden Thomas, made a move around the last defender and drove a shot past the keeper for her miraculous match-winner despite losing a shoe in the process.
“Jaiden [Thomas] played a good long ball, and then I timed the bounce with the last defender and I beat her with my touch and I dribbled,” Joseph said.
While Joseph made it sound easy, it was anything but. With the high-arcing, last-second pass flying toward her, the senior displayed excellent touch, dribbling skills and most importantly clutch as she delivered the stunning goal and sent the crowd into a frenzy.
With her ecstatic teammates joining in on the celebration with mere seconds remaining, all Campbell could do was watch as Joseph’s walk-off goal propelled NC State to a 3-0 start to the season.
While the last minute was the most memorable moment of the night, the first 89 offered a back-and-forth scoreless competition between the two sides.
Both Joseph and head coach Tim Santoro noted that Campbell’s condensed defense caused the Wolfpack to struggle throughout the match, particularly in the first half.
“They had eight, nine players in the final 40 yards; that’s hard to break down,” Santoro said. “We were patient. We tried some really good stuff; that’s high level stuff to get through, and we kept at it.”
This difficulty resulted in an uneventful first half in which NC State moved the ball up the field slowly and methodically, but couldn’t find a way to score as multiple shots went wide of the goal.
It wasn’t until the second half that the Pack came out with more offensive energy and was able to attack the defense much more effectively. The increase in intensity was palpable as the match grew more and more physical on both sides of the field.
With junior goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta and the rest of the defense stonewalling the Camels, it was up to the offense to deliver. The Pack’s increased offensive effort in the second half was evident with multiple shots just missing the goal, including an impressive shot from outside the box by sophomore defender Fernanda Soto that just glanced off the crossbar.
Despite all the offensive pressure, the Wolfpack still had nothing to show. Waning minutes turned into seconds, but Joseph’s amazing play flipped the match’s result from a scoreless draw into a 1-0 win in an instant.
“I thought we would eventually get one, and it didn’t quite happen the way we thought it would,” Santoro said. “But over 90 minutes, we scored a goal and won the game. Credit to our team for sticking to what we do and finding the way to win.”
With another walk-off win under its belt, NC State surely has had a memorable start to the season. While the team hopes it’s not this close every time, the Wolfpack will look to continue its winning ways this weekend when it takes on No. 11 Georgetown.
The Wolfpack will make its return to the pitch at Dail Soccer Field on Sunday, Aug. 28 when it faces off against the Hoyas. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
