NC State women’s soccer earned its sixth draw of the season in Coral Gables, Florida against Miami, recording a scoreless draw as the Wolfpack took on the Hurricanes in a late-season ACC showdown.
Even with both squads desperately fighting to make their way into the top half of the ACC table, neither found a way to score in the Saturday night showdown. For one of the first times all season, the Wolfpack (2-7-6, 1-3-3 ACC) led in shots, but couldn’t come up with a winning goal against the Hurricanes (3-7-4, 2-4-1).
NC State had an impressive offense effort overall. The Pack recorded 11 shots on the day, and despite only firing two shots on target, the red-and-white put Miami on its back foot for a majority of the contest.
Junior midfielder Emika Kawagishi led the Pack’s attack with three shots in her 90 minutes on the pitch. Fellow junior midfielder Annika Wohner, who scored a goal in the Pack’s previous match, followed right behind Kawagishi with two shots. Meanwhile, senior forward Jameese Joseph and sophomore defender Taylor Chism each fired two shots.
NC State managed to record five of its shots in the first half, with the lone shot on goal from Chism.
On the other side of the pitch, junior goalkeeper Olivia Pratapas and the Wolfpack defense fended off Miami for the entirety of the first half. With the Hurricanes failing to record a single shot on the first 45, the red-and-white had a promising chance to follow up on its second win of the season in its previous match.
However, the Wolfpack just couldn’t break through the Miami defense in the second period. Joseph sent a promising shot on the bottom left corner of the goal, but the Hurricanes’ keeper denied the Pack’s star forward. Freshman defender Mary Frances Symmes made a last-minute attempt on goal, but NC State couldn’t find the winner.
However, the Canes still couldn’t break through the NC State defense in the latter 45 minutes. Pratapas recorded her two saves of the night in the half and had to contend with five Miami shots in the period.
NC State will return home to Dail Soccer Stadium for a duel with Syracuse as it starts the final stretch of its 2023 regular season schedule. Kickoff against the Orange is set for Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.
