The women’s soccer team (9-8-2, 3-7 ACC) closed out its regular season with an overtime loss to Virginia (10-6-2, 5-4-1 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at Method Road Soccer Stadium.
Despite the late-game heroics of senior defenseman Megan Buescher to send the game into sudden-death overtime, the Cavaliers pulled away to win 3-2 in a conference battle.
Virginia struck early at the 8:10 mark of the first half on an unassisted goal from Jess Rostedt. But N.C. State then responded with an unassisted goal of its own from freshman forward Briana Cunningham at the 25:23 mark to pull State into a 1-1 draw at the half.
Virginia possessed the ball for a majority of the second half and despite the five second-half saves from senior goalkeeper Megan Connors, Virginia’s Julia Falk broke loose to score with just more than six minutes left to play, seemingly leaving the Wolfpack with an unwanted ending to its senior day.
It was then that Buescher scored on a header with just more than four minutes to play in the game — sending the match into sudden-death overtime. Freshman forward Meredith Parrilla assisted the goal, which just slipped past diving Virginia goalkeeper Christina de Vries, as it slid into the bottom left corner of the net.
It was the first collegiate goal of the Buescher’s four-year career at State.
But in overtime, Virginia would get the last goal as Rostedt put the game away with her second goal of the game.
However, after the game, coach Laura Kerrigan said she wanted to reflect on the heroic play of her seniors.
“I feel bad for our team because we fought so hard today,” Kerrigan said. “And I really felt like we fought our way back and should have won that game. Our seniors played their hearts out.”
Citing the play of Connors, Buescher, senior defender Christina Mann and each of her five seniors, Kerrigan said the team can only take hope from such a hard-fought loss.
“We showed a lot of character today,” Kerrigan said. “And that’s gonna come in big in the ACC tournament. I felt Christina Mann stepped up and played a huge game for us today. Buescher getting her first collegiate goal with two minutes to go to put us into overtime was fantastic.”
According to Buescher, team morale is still high heading into the tournament, and the team will continue to ride the wave of confidence from the effort and dramatic goal, despite the loss.
“It felt really good,” Buescher said. “It kind of stinks we didn’t win. But it was an exciting score on senior day. I think everyone’s pretty positive looking forward to Wednesday.”
The Pack will face the Tar Heels, ranked No. 1 in the nation, on Wednesday at SAS Soccer Stadium in Cary.
No one looks forward to Wednesday’s showdown more than Connors, whose nine saves on Sunday put her at third in the ACC in saves this season.
“I’m very excited to play UNC,” Connors said. “We love playing against UNC. It’s a great team, and I know we’re gonna come out and battle. What was shown today was that we have a lot of heart, and that’s what it takes to win. It’s a tough loss, but I’m proud of the girls. I’m proud of the seniors, and I can’t ask for much more.”
Kerrigan said beating Carolina is a must if State hopes to pursue a birth in the NCAA tournament.
“We need a win against UNC on Wednesday,” Kerrigan said. “We’re fighting for our lives for an NCAA birth, and if we beat UNC we should get in. So, that’s what it comes down to for us.”
