N.C. State defeated Virginia Commonwealth 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at the Method Road Stadium, moving the team’s overall record to 5-1-2.
Only 7:50 into the first half, sophomore midfielder Meredith Parrilla headed a ball into the left side of the net — off a free kick from sophomore defender Katie Ruiz, which turned out to be the game’s only goal.
“We got some real skilled players like Lindsay Vera and Jessica O’Rourke, and fit girls like Tami and Nadia — my thing is head balls.” Parrilla said.
Later in the game, physical play started to play a larger role. During halftime, sophomore midfielder Kendall Irby had to wrap both her feet due to blisters that developed on both of her heels.
“They were getting to me during that game,” Irby said. “I was dying out there because this week I’ve been sick and I was like ‘I need some water, oh my gosh’.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Little made a few saves late in the second half to prevent the Rams from trying the match. Coach Laura Kerrigan said the sophomore was vital to the team’s victory.
“Sydney Little made some big saves for us today. She made a huge save in the second half to keep them at zero,” Kerrigan said. “That was the difference in the game. If your goalkeeper can make two saves a game that changes the course of the game then put the game in the hands of the field players, I thought that Sydney did that for us today.”
With the heat and the physical play in the game, Parrilla said the team had to fight through the majority of the 90 minutes. And that was what helped the team hold on to its 1-0 lead, according to the sophomore midfielder.
“More than anything was our fight, we really fought hard,” Parrilla said. “It wasn’t two girls up top it wasn’t four girls in the back it was all 11 of us on the field and all the girls on the bench as well.”
State’s next home match will be Oct. 7 against Duke.