The Wolfpack will put its 3-0 record on the line tonight during a 5 p.m. match-up against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Rebels at home.
State comes off a 4-1 performance that included a hat trick from sophomore forward Tanya Cain, who was later named an ACC Women’s Soccer Player of the Week for her efforts.
The undefeated Pack, which outscored its opponents 9-1 in its first three regular season wins, will likely have to defend its record without its growing fan base of over a thousand fans cheering from the stands at Dail Soccer Field. Even Friday night, when a steady, cold drizzle fell throughout the game, the stands were reasonably full, but senior Meredith Parrilla said she doesn’t expect this match-up to draw fans away from Carter-Finley.
Parrilla said, according to what she’s heard, “a lot of people” are going out to tailgate instead.
“I don’t know who schedules it, and of course you can’t miss every other sport, but it does kind of stink,” Parrilla said. “It’s a Thursday night game on ESPN against South Carolina, but it is what it is. Do I expect there to still be 1,500 fans out there tomorrow night? No. But a lot of people have been honest and told me they’re going to come for the first half.”
However, Parrilla said it won’t matter.
“I don’t care if there’s no one in the stands or it’s a packed house,” Parrilla said. “We’re going to go out there and do our thing.”
Junior midfielder Nadia Aboulhosn said the team doesn’t know much about UNLV, as the West Coast team doesn’t often visit Raleigh.
“Just from scouting reports, we know what formation they’re playing,” Aboulhosn said. “We’ve been scrimmaging each other, with one team sort of playing in UNLV’s style, and we try and figure out what we can do to get around them.”
Parrilla said the styles of play – and mentalities – differ from coast to coast.
“We don’t really know much about them,” Parrilla said. “They’re a West Coast team. West Coast hates East Coast and East Coast hates West Coast. They think they’re the best, and it’s the same with us.”
Before game time, there was time for fun. According to Parrilla, the upper classmen teamed up against the lower classmen during practice drills. However, the losers didn’t perform an simple set of push-ups under the watchful eye of the winners – the punishment was much more inventive.
“We played upper classmen against lower classmen, and of course, the upper classmen came out on top,” Parrilla joked. “So we put them in the goal and we took a shot at them.”
The “drill,” called “butts up,” saw the lower classmen facing the goal, bent at the waist. The upperclassmen, stationed outside the box, were allowed to pick their shot.
“I think that’s the most accurate we’ve been all season,” Parrilla said.
Aboulhosn said games help her teammates wind down after a hard workout.
“I think it kind of helps to set the tone for the game, to get our minds off it a little bit,” Aboulhosn said. “We’re really serious throughout the practice, then we add a little laughter toward the end to help us relax.”
Freshman defenseman Rachel Wells had the misfortune of being on the receiving end of a hard shot, which hit her squarely on the behind and knocked her over. With her teammates howling with laughter good-naturedly, she brushed herself up and resumed her spot.
“It’s so good to see us all laughing. We were missing that in previous years, but now we’re all having fun,” Parrilla said. “Now we’re playing hard, we’re playing well and we’re all just laughing and enjoying ourselves. That’s really important.”
