The NC State women’s soccer team quickly took care of business Sunday afternoon at Dail Soccer Stadium, defeating Davidson 4-0 and achieving its best record to start the season since 2011.
The Wolfpack (6-1-0) scored two goals in the first seven minutes, one apiece from the sophomore tandem of forward Kia Rankin and midfielder Tziarra King, to jump on the Wildcats (1-6-0) early. Redshirt senior forward Rachel Cox added a third goal near the end of the first half and a fourth with 12 minutes to go in the game to close out the win.
“We were pretty strong in all areas today, which is what we wanted to do,” head coach Tim Santoro said. “We wanted our last non-conference game to have attention to detail in all the areas and I thought we did. Getting the early lead, the game kind of dies out a little bit but overall I thought we were really good in every area.”
In the third minute of the game, Rankin found the back of the net on an outside shot from the left corner of the box. She was assisted by junior defender Hannah Keogh and sophomore midfielder Ricci Walkling.
Less than five minutes later, NC State doubled its lead to 2-0 when King put away her team-leading sixth goal of the season in the seventh minute. She was assisted by fellow sophomore Paige Griffiths.
NC State dominated possession for the remainder of the first half and neutralized any legitimate opportunities the Wildcats had on the offensive end. Cox upped the score to 3-0 in the 43rd minute when she recorded her second goal of the season.
The second half mirrored the first in the way that the Wolfpack continued to hold possession and barrage the Wildcat goalkeeper with shots. NC State outshot Davidson 11-6 on the day.
Cox added her second goal of the match off an assist from freshman Naomi Powell in the 79th minute to solidify NC State’s win at 4-0.
“I thought that we had good possession,” Cox said. “We were trying to get the attack point really fast so we would switch the ball quickly and try to find the gaps to get on goal and I think it worked out well.”
Sitting at 6-1 overall, NC State’s next matchup will open ACC play against No. 6 Virginia Friday night. Virginia will be unlike any team the Pack has faced this season.
“I feel like we’re in a good spot,” Santoro said. “That’s always a big jump that you never feel like you’re fully prepared for. Virginia is one of the top programs in the country. We’ll brush up on some things and we’ll be ready to go Friday.”
Virginia finished fifth in the ACC regular season in 2016 and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
“We feel pretty good coming off of a few good wins,” Cox said. “Definitely need the week to prepare and get our minds straight because obviously ACC gets a little more intense and competitive so we’ll take this week to regroup and get ready.”
The Virginia game will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday at Dail Soccer Stadium.
