The NC State women’s soccer team will continue its brutal conference schedule when it faces No. 4 Duke in Durham Thursday and looks to pick up a marquee conference win.
The Wolfpack, coming off a loss to Florida State in Tallahassee Sunday, will carry an 8-3-1 record overall and a 1-2-1 ACC mark into the match. The Blue Devils currently own an 11-1-0 record and a 4-0-0 ACC record.
The match against Duke will mark the third of four consecutive road games for the Pack after dropping the first two games to ranked teams in Notre Dame and Florida State. State was dominated by the Fighting Irish 4-0 but put up a better performance against the Seminoles despite the 1-0 loss.
Duke has earned several impressive wins this season, including victories over Clemson and Notre Dame. The Blue Devils’ only loss came in the form of a 2-1 overtime defeat to UNC-Chapel Hill, and the team has since won 11 straight contests.
NC State is 10-21-1 in the all-time series with the Blue Devils. The last win for the Wolfpack against Duke came in 2000. This will also be the first meeting for the teams in nearly a year, as they last squared off in October of 2016 when the Blue Devils prevailed 3-1.
The Wolfpack’s defense must be top notch Thursday if it has any chance of pulling the upset. Duke outscored opponents 20-3 in September and recorded six shutouts in that same time frame. The Wolfpack defense has received major contributions from freshman Lulu Guttenberger. The Velburg, Germany native has looked like an upperclassmen on the field, starting all 12 matches while being a stalwart defender. Sophomore Krissi Schuster and juniors Hannah Keogh and Ella Bonner have also been staples of the defensive line.
Junior Sydney Wootten has looked strong in goal for the Wolfpack this season. Her best performance came against conference foe Virginia when she recorded six saves en route to earning ACC Defensive Player of the Week. She has also tallied five shutouts and 26 total saves on the year.
The Pack also boasts a formidable offensive attack, led by sophomores Tziarra King, Ricarda Walkling and Kia Rankin. King leads the team in virtually every offensive category and has connected on seven goals and four assists this season, good for a team-best 18 points, including a 90th-minute, game-winning goal at home against Boston College.
Walkling and Rankin each have three goals, two assists and eight points to their names, while redshirt senior Rachel Cox and sophomore Paige Griffiths have six points apiece.
A win against Duke would easily be the best win this year for NC State, a team looking for a signature victory for its postseason resume. The Pack did defeat a top-10 UNC team last year in Chapel Hill and has returned the same core that accomplished that feat.
State will face Pittsburgh on Sunday as the fourth and final match of its four-game road set, and a win against Duke would provide excellent momentum and a signature victory for head coach Tim Santoro’s squad before it squares off against the Panthers.
The match against the Blue Devils will kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Koskinen Stadium and can be viewed on ACC Network.
