NC State women’s soccer hosted California in the Golden Bears’ first-ever ACC game at Dail Soccer Stadium. While the Wolfpack had visions of sending its guests back to the Golden State with an 0-1 all-time ACC record, the Bears ran rampant in Raleigh.
The red-and-white suffered a decisive collapse in a high-scoring second half, giving up its 1-0 lead after Cal scored three goals in just 11 minutes. By the end of the Golden Bears’ (8-1-1, 1-0 ACC) torrent stretch, NC State (3-5-1, 0-1 ACC) was left with a sudden two-goal deficit and 15 minutes later, a loss in its ACC-opening match.
Coming into the game, Cal forward Karlie Lema had scored 11 of the Bears’ 24 goals on the season. Now, after bagging her team’s final two scores and nearly beating the Pack herself, Lema and her team have outscored opponents 24-8 on the season.
“Really bad 11-minute stretch in the second half,” said head coach Tim Santoro. “Can’t let Lema get free and we let her get free a couple times. It wasn’t too complicated. We knew who the key player was, and it burned us.”
NC State and Cal played an even and heated first half. Both sides took their shots and came with determined play in the conference opener. They headed into the halftime break in a 0-0 deadlock while tallying five shots a piece.
After a competitive first half, NC State broke the ice with a goal from freshman midfielder Mana Nakata. After taking the ball in front of the opposing goal, just outside the box, Nakata lashed a shot into the top left corner of the goal that granted her team a 1-0 lead.
The Wolfpack had just taken the first lead of the game, and with less than a half of soccer to play, the home side had a chance to start out its always-challenging ACC slate of games with a win, or at the very least, a tie.
But just after, NC State suffered a three-goal collapse in the next 15 minutes that all but eliminated any chance of emerging from the contest with points for the table.
“We’re disappointed,” Santoro said. “This is one we definitely could have had.”
Cal evened the contest eight minutes after Nakata’s opener. Tied 1-1, Lema showed why Santoro and his staff were preparing for her all week. After claiming an assist on Cal’s first goal, Lema scored her first of the night in the 73rd minute.
Just one minute later, Lema capitalized off a careless NC State turnover, rattling a shot off the post and into the goal for a brace. It was 3-1, and despite the Pack’s strong 60 minutes to start the bout, a poor stretch doomed the home side’s chances.
“It’s 90 minutes — you have to be consistent throughout a game,” Santoro said. “We talked about it. It was just a small stretch tonight, it killed us.”
It won’t get any easier from here for the Pack — NC State is set to face off with No. 1 Stanford on Sunday. The red-and-white will clash with the perennial college women’s soccer powerhouse at 1 p.m. to finish off its four-game home stand at Dail Soccer Stadium in Raleigh.
