In the ACC Women’s Soccer Championship quarterfinal, the No. 3 seed and host NC State Wolfpack used four unanswered goals, including three by sophomore midfielder Tziarra King, to top No. 6 seed Notre Dame Sunday afternoon at a rainy Dail Soccer Field.
The Wolfpack (14-4-1) advances to its first ACC semifinals since 1995 and avenges an earlier regular season loss to the Fighting Irish (9-6-4).
“Looking back, I’m sure that we wouldn’t even think that we would get a first-round home game in the ACC Tournament, so that in itself was an amazing accomplishment,” King said. “Then, to get here and win the first round was amazing too.”
Despite a scoreless first half, the Wolfpack nearly took the lead in the 31st minute. Redshirt senior forward Rachel Cox ran down a pass on the right side of the box, promptly passing it to King, who launched a shot just over the bar of the Notre Dame goal.
Both teams had several other solid opportunities in the first half, but neither squad could capitalize. In the first half, the Pack recorded four shots and three corners. While the Fighting Irish racked up seven shots in the first half, only a couple were serious threats.
The first half went without a goal, but the second half was a vastly different affair.
Notre Dame broke the scoreless tie in the 61st minute on a goal by Sabrina Flores. After the ball was knocked around in the Wolfpack box, Flores caught the rebound and shot it to the left side of the goal, just past the hands of a diving junior goalkeeper Sydney Wootten to put the Irish up 1-0. It was just the second goal that the Pack had conceded in its last five matches.
Down but not out, the Wolfpack evened the score just five minutes later. Junior defender Hannah Keogh sent a pass to King, who dribbled it to the left side of the Fighting Irish box, launching a shot that snuck under Notre Dame keeper Lexi Nicholas to tie the match up 1-1. The goal was King’s team-leading 12th of the season, while the assist was Keogh’s seventh on the year, also a team high.
The Pack took its first lead of the match when sophomore defender Kristina Schuster sent a ball to Cox. Cox outran a Notre Dame defender and shot from the top on the box to the right corner of the goal, putting NC State up 2-1. The goal was Cox’s fourth of the season.
The Wolfpack extended its lead when King and Keogh teamed up for yet another score in the 77th minute. Keogh took a corner kick for the Pack, giving it King, who dribbled around several defenders before rocketing a ball past Nicholas. The score was King’s 13th goal of the season and Keogh’s eighth assist, putting State up 3-1.
Despite a two-goal lead, the Wolfpack was not done yet. King completed her hat trick by notching her third goal of the match on an assist from junior forward Maxine Blackwood. The score put the Pack up 4-1 in the 84th minute, a lead the Wolfpack held for the remainder of the match.
The win was NC State’s second win in five matches over the Fighting Irish in the series between the two schools, as the Pack avenged a 4-0 loss to Notre Dame earlier this year.
“It was nice to kind of set the record straight,” head coach Tim Santoro said. “They were better than us the first game, but I don’t think anyone in the country is four goals better than us.”
The win was the Wolfpack’s ninth at home this season to just one home loss and tie.
“It’s just awesome to play in front of our fans,” King said. “It was really motivating.”
King, who had two goals in last week’s win over Louisville, now has 34 points on the season with the hat trick against the Irish. She’s scored 14 goals and has six assists to her name in 2017.
“For us, we’re not surprised,” Santoro said of King’s performance. “She scored some big goals in some key times all throughout the year, all throughout the conference, and there’s not many attacking players better than her.”
With UNC-Chapel Hill’s win over Florida State in the other quarterfinal, the Pack will now face the Tar Heels in South Carolina in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament.
“They’re one of the top programs in the country.” Santoro said. “It’s going to be a really tough task, but we’ll train and do our best to be ready.
The match against Carolina will take place Friday at 8 p.m. in Charleston, South Carolina at the MUSC Health Stadium.
