Jessica O’Rourke looked exhausted as she walked off the field at Method Road Soccer Stadium on Sunday night.
But O’Rourke, a junior midfielder, had just scored all three goals in a 3-1 victory against Georgia State on Friday and had one goal in a 2-0 victory against American on Sunday. And she assisted the only goal she did not score herself.
N.C. State (5-0-1) jumped out to an early lead at the 5:42 mark when sophomore forward Lindsay Vera scored a goal from 10 yards out on an assist from O’Rourke.
The Pack dominated possession of the ball in the first half, getting four shots on goal while allowing American only one.
The second goal of the half came as O’Rourke drilled the ball into the bottom left corner of the net from 25 yards out on an assist from freshman forward Briana Cunningham at the 30:48 mark. After scoring two goals in the first half, the Pack went scoreless in the second half, but still managed to shut out American.
“In the first half we played the best soccer we’ve played all year,” coach Laura Kerrigan said. “We possessed the ball well, changed the point of attack, found opportunities to score and we finished very, very well. In the second half we still played OK, but we didn’t possess as much. We still created some scoring opportunities, but I’d like to see us finish that 90 minutes the way we started.”
Despite the fact that the Pack possessed the ball less in the second half, the defense shut out American, and have allowed only one goal in the Pack’s last six games.
“One goal in six games, if we do that the rest of the season we should be in good shape,” Kerrigan said. “Our defense has really stepped up.”
According to senior defender Michelle Massey, the experienced defensive squad is so competitive because they are comfortable with each other and the system.
“Three of us have played together in the back for the last three years. That has helped a lot because we know each other and how we move,” Massey, the Pack’s three-time MVP, said. “We’ve also played the same system since I have been here. We have a lot of offensive threats, we have a lot of speed, and offensively we can be dangerous. We have a great defense and our midfield does a good job of getting back and helping out and getting forward.”
According to Kerrigan, O’Rourke had a fabulous weekend. In Sunday’s game she had six shots, two of which were on goal, while the entire American team only had four shots, with one on goal.
“Jessica O’Rourke had an incredible weekend scoring a hat trick on Friday and getting another goal today,” Kerrigan said. “Jess has always been a great ball winner for us, and this year she’s added even more of an attacking mentality to her game. Her scoring a hat trick on Friday opened it up even more for our team, because if you get a team focusing in on one or two players it opens it up for the rest of the team to score.”
But O’Rourke contributed her good play to the effort and play of her teammates.
“It was a really good experience,” O’Rourke said. “It’s really good we finished the hard work together. I was able to finish off the hard work from my teammates.”
This week, State will play Virginia Commonwealth and 25th-ranked William & Mary.
“The thing that I’m really excited about with this team is that so many players are able to score,” Kerrigan said. “We are really excited about going into next weekend and we feel good about coming off with this win.”
