Coming off a 3-0 shutout of ACC foe Syracuse, the NC State women’s soccer team will face Clemson Thursday at Dail Soccer Field as the Pack continues its conference slate.
The Wolfpack (10-4-1, 3-3-1 ACC) will seek its third-straight win while Clemson (8-4-2, 2-3-2 ACC) will look to rebound after drawing Virginia 0-0 in its previous match.
Against Syracuse, the Wolfpack controlled the game from the start. Star sophomore midfielder Tziarra King recorded two goals and an assist against the Orange and now has a team-leading 24 points this season, a total also good for second-most in the ACC.
Fellow sophomore Ricci Walkling added a score of her own, and is now up to 10 points on the year. Junior goalkeeper Sydney Wootten recorded her sixth shutout of the season.
If the Wolfpack wins, it will match its win total from last season at 11. Last year, the Pack advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament and qualified for the ACC Tournament by finishing in the top eight spots in conference play. Beating Clemson would also mean that State would match its conference win total from 2016 at four ACC victories.
Last season, the Pack fell 2-1 to Clemson in South Carolina in a tightly-contested match.
Clemson was ranked No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll and had high expectations, but has suffered several tough losses, including Notre Dame, UNC-Chapel Hill, Louisville and South Carolina. Needless to say, the Tigers have faced a brutal schedule thus far, both in and out of conference and find themselves unranked.
NC State will need to contain two of Clemson’s prominent offensive weapons in Mariana Speckmaier and Jenna Polonsky. Both players have 13 points each on the year, with Speckmaier logging a team-high six goals and Polonsky recording five.
The Pack will depend on its leading scorer, King. Along with her 24 points, three of her nine goals have been game-winners, including an impressive last-minute score against Boston College earlier this season. While Wootten recorded just one save in minimal work against Syracuse, it’s likely the goalkeeper will see more action against a seasoned Clemson squad that has put up 11.1 shots per game this season compared to its opponents’ 9.4 shots per game. In comparison, the Pack shoots 11.5 shots per game.
After Clemson, State will make one more road trip on Sunday, this time to Blacksburg, Virginia, to take on Virginia Tech in its final road game of the regular season. The regular season finale and final home game of the year will take place on Oct. 26 against Louisville.
As for the task at hand, Clemson is a winnable, albeit tough, matchup for the Pack. The Tigers are solid but have faced an incredibly tough schedule this season with several narrow defeats. If the Wolfpack comes out of this match with a victory, it can certainly be seen as a signature win come selection time for the NCAA Tournament.
The match will take place at 7 p.m. at Dail Soccer Field and can be seen on the ACC Network.
