In its final regular season match of the season, the NC State women’s soccer team topped Louisville 2-1 at Dail Soccer Stadium behind sophomore Tziarra King’s two goals on a crisp Thursday night in Raleigh.
The Wolfpack (13-4-1, 6-3-1 ACC) will now host an ACC Tournament match by securing third place in the conference. The Cardinals (9-7-2, 3-5-2 ACC) will be held out of the ACC Tournament with this loss.
“We’re just finding ways to win games,” head coach Tim Santoro said. “It wasn’t our best game, but in a crucial game for them, they were a desperate team and we matched it the second half and found away to win.”
The match was a back-and-forth affair early on. Louisville held an advantage in possession throughout the opening frame, but the Pack’s defense held strong in the Cardinals’ final third of the field.
An excellent opportunity presented itself for the Pack in the 19th minute when junior Kia Rankin ran down a pass in Cardinals territory, catching opposing goalkeeper Gabrielle Kouzelos out of position at the top of the box. Rankin launched a shot, but was denied as Kouzelos threw her leg out and deflected the ball to preserve the scoreless tie.
Louisville nearly struck for a goal of its own in the 21st minute. A scramble in the box led to a save by junior goalkeeper Sydney Wootten and a collective exhale among the Wolfpack faithful as the Cardinals had the ball just a yard out from goal but failed to score.
Those chances were the best each team saw in the first half, as the Pack recorded just two shots and Louisville had four of its own. The Cardinals defense swarmed the Pack at midfield, as State struggled to advance the ball into Louisville territory.
“They’re really organized defensively,” King said. “They have two blocks of four and it’s everywhere, shifting everywhere we passed the ball.”
The Wolfpack finally seized an opportunity in the 67th minute, as King broke through the Cardinals’ defense momentarily for her 10th goal of the season. Sophomore Ricci Walkling launched a pass over the Louisville back line, finding King. She proceeded to dribble past the defense and into the box, burying a shot past Kouzelos. King’s point total for the year rose to an impressive 26 with the score. Junior Hannah Keogh earned an assist on the play.
Unfortunately for the Pack, Louisville did not concede. The Cardinals’ Gabrielle Vincent picked up a high deflection and shot it past Wootten to tie the match up at one goal apiece in the 80th minute.
The Wolfpack showed its resiliency by striking right back with a goal of its own in the 82nd minute. Again, King showed her athleticism by slipping past the Louisville defense and placing the ball in the back of the net for her 11th goal of the season. Sophomore Frances Henshall was credited with an assist.
“It’s kind of tough when they equalize it, so I was just looking to get that second goal so we could get ahead,” King said. “It was really important for us to get this win so we can host on Sunday.”
King now has 28 points for the year, by far the top total for State.
The Pack defense held steady in final 10 minutes of the match, outlasting the Cardinals and clinching a home ACC Tournament match, something that hasn’t happened since 1994.
The game was senior night for four Wolfpack players: Cailyn Boch, Harley James, Dakota Stephens and Jackie Stengel. The Pack did not win an ACC match in 2014 or 2015 before breaking through last season and continuing its incredible turnaround this year.
“The first couple years it was really, really hard,” Boch said. “All of us have put in the work, and we’re all really determined to make this program a top program and I think that’s what we’ve done.”
This year’s tally of 13 wins and six ACC wins are the most since 1995 in what has been a remarkable two years for the program. Last season, the Pack won 11 matches and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“It means a lot, and we’ll probably put it into words when this whole season is over,” Santoro said. “I’m proud of the girls, they earned this.”
NC State will host Notre Dame Sunday at 1 p.m. at Dail Soccer Stadium in the first round of the ACC Championship, where it hopes to avenge last year’s conference-tournament loss to the Irish.
Sophomore midfielder Tziarra King maneuvers past opponents from Louisville at the N.C. State V. Louisville women's soccer game in Dail Soccer Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 26. King played a total of 85 min and scored both of the game winning goals for the wolfpack.
