Dail Soccer Stadium will host more than just a soccer game on Thursday night when the women’s soccer team takes on No. 6 Clemson.
Thursday night is the annual Kay Yow Pink Match where the team will honor former NC State women’s basketball coach and support the fight against breast cancer.
In addition to honoring Yow, the team will also celebrate former Wolfpack soccer players Charmaine Hooper and Robin Morlock before the game.
Hooper, who was a member of the team from ‘87-‘90, was inducted into the NC State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014 and still holds the all-time record for shots (349), goals (58) and points (145). Hooper went on to play professional and international soccer, representing Canada in three FIFA World Cup appearances.
Morlock played for the Pack from ‘93-‘96, winning a total of 50 matches and participating in three NCAA tournaments. In 1998, Morlock died in a car accident at 23 years old, but her parents will attend the Clemson game on her behalf.
NC State (4-11-0, 0-6-0 ACC) will enter Thursday night’s match desperately searching for its first ACC win and its first win since Sept. 13. The No. 6 Tigers (11-2-1, 5-2-0 ACC) are on a two-game winning streak, and this game will be their first on the road since Sept. 27.
Clemson is lead in points by junior midfielder Catrina Atanda and junior defender Jenna Weston with four goals apiece. Junior defender Claire Wagner follows them closely with three goals on the season.
NC State redshirt sophomore Jackie Stengel is the top scorer and threat on the Wolfpack offense totaling five goals so far this season, with redshirt junior Alexa Allen on her heels with three goals.
The Tigers have had a good season so far, losing only to top-ranked Florida State and Virginia earlier in the season. Clemson currently sits in the No. 4 position in the ACC, below the Seminoles, Cavaliers and Hokies.
If the Wolfpack wants a shot at beating the Tigers, it has to be able to finish opportunities, get balls into the back of the net and play consistently for 90 whole minutes.
The ACC is the toughest college soccer conference in the nation and playing an inconsistent or incomplete 90 minutes will not produce wins—a tough lesson the Pack has learned this season.
NC State currently holds last place in the ACC, the only team not to have a single conference win all season.
Finishing opportunities is another issue the Wolfpack has struggled with this season, scoring only 12 of its 136 total shots. Stengel has registered 31 of those shots, capitalizing on five of them. Redshirt Junior Dayna Tomayko follows Stengel with a total of 20 shots, none of which found the back of the net. These opportunities are going to be crucial against a tough Tigers defense.
A win Thursday night would be the Wolfpack’s first conference win of 2015 and would give the team its desired momentum to finish out the three remaining games of the season.
