What happened?The women’s soccer team is now riding a five-game losing streak, with its last win coming on Sept. 23 against Virginia Commonwealth. In its most recent game, N.C. State (5-6-2, 0-5 ACC) took on conference foe Virginia Tech. The Hokies, also winless prior to last Sunday’s matchup, came out with a 4-1 victory.

“We let a lot of our scoring chances slip away,” freshman defender Alex Berger said. “We’ve basically been letting balls just bounce in the box. Defensively, we were a little slack on the head balls. After that game we’ve really been working hard with getting on the end of those in practice. We’ve also been working on clearing the ball out of our own box.”

Who’s hot?Returning from a concussion in the Miami game, freshman forward Kara Baldy returned to the lineup to tally five shots in the game against Virginia Tech. Baldy said the breakaway opportunities came from the team’s practice strategy of running specific routes.

“Remembering that from practice, I was able to make the runs that would give me scoring opportunities,” Baldy said. “My teammates helped open up space by making their correct runs.”

Who’s not?Wolfpack sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Little has allowed more goals than saves in each of the team’s last two outings. In the meeting with Virginia, Little allowed three goals while recording only two saves. In the team’s run-in with Virginia Tech, Little had two saves and gave up four goals. Coach Laura Kerrigan attributed the lapse in defense to the entire team failing to make crucial stops when the ball is in State’s box.

“A lot of it is attention to detail,” Kerrigan said. “If the ball comes in on a free kick or a corner kick or a set piece, we have to be the ones marking tightly. We have to be the ones that win the ball in the box. That’s what it comes down to — guts in the box, who is going to put the ball in.”

What’s next?State hosts Clemson (8-2-3, 1-1-3 ACC) at Method Road Soccer Stadium today at 4 p.m. “It’s going to be a physical match,” Kerrigan said. “It is going to be a good matchup in terms of both teams being at the same level. It’s just going to be a matter of who is going to take advantage of finishing their opportunities.”

Berger said she is optimistic the team will win if it capitalizes on its chances.

“We’re creating really great opportunities by working the ball down and around the wings,” Berger said. “If we just get on top of them in the box, we’ll be fine. We’ll score goals.”