NC State women’s soccer suffered a 1-0 loss to No. 12 Notre Dame in Raleigh, effectively ending the Pack’s chances at a postseason berth as the team draws towards the end of its 2023 season.
The Wolfpack’s final home stand of the season saw the visiting Fighting Irish (10-2-4, 5-1-2 ACC) bombard NC State’s (3-7-6, 2-3-3 ACC) defense with a whopping 24 shots on goal. Notre Dame only managed to put one of those shots past junior goalkeeper Olivia Pratapas, but in the end, a mighty effort from the Wolfpack couldn’t get it the favorable result it needed to realistically stay in postseason contention.
“The better team won,” said head coach Tim Santoro. “We fought hard. That’s the best our team is going to do against a top 10 team with who we have right now but great effort.”
NC State gave it to the Irish right from the start. Despite Notre Dame’s relentless attack, the Wolfpack continually frustrated its opponents with stingy defense. With Pratapas holding the last line of defense, NC State’s back four continually blocked shots and thwarted Notre Dame runs and attacks.
However, with no real traction offensively, the Fighting Irish’s offensive chances mounted. The first half concluded in multiple wild, heart-stopping plays inside the red-and-white’s defensive third. Between Pratapas wrestling balls away from Irish attackers and Notre Dame shots careening off the crossbar, NC State managed to head into the break unscathed.
Notre Dame didn’t let up in the second half. Sooner or later, the Irish were bound to break through, and they did just that in the 66th minute to jump out to a 1-0 advantage.
With the lead in hand, Notre Dame controlled the game for the final 34 minutes. NC State’s best chances offensively had been engineered by star senior forward Jameese Joseph — evidenced by her near-score in the first half that missed just to the right of the goal.
In the end, NC State only mustered five shots and two shots on goal with only one corner. A lack of offensive opportunities doomed the Pack despite its defensive effort.
The Pack’s loss to Notre Dame — and a win by Wake Forest against Louisville — have put NC State four points out of the final spot for the ACC Tournament. With extremely slim chances to make the NCAA Tournament, the Wolfpack’s subpar season will conclude with a challenging showdown at No. 1 Florida State.
“[This season’s] not up to our standards, [considering] what we’ve done over the last six years,” Santoro said. “But these things happen. We’re not a blue-blood brand like some of these schools, so once [in] a while we’ll have a rebuild in us. But we’ll be back.”
Despite finishing its season below .500, NC State’s past six years under Santoro speak for themselves. They’re all reasons to believe the Wolfpack will be back and better than ever in future seasons, especially considering its new, talented core of young players.
“We have some good pieces here, some young pieces that’ll go well with the big class we have coming in,” Santoro said. “And they’re gaining a lot of experience right now, some of these kids, and we’ll be right where we belong next year — no doubt.”
NC State will officially wrap up its season in Tallahassee, Florida against the top-ranked Seminoles on Thursday, Oct. 26. Kickoff at Florida State is set for 7 p.m.
