The N.C. State women’s soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss to No. 5 Maryland Sunday afternoon at Dail Soccer Field.

Despite the loss, the team gave fans a reason to cheer as it hosted the Kick for the Cure breast cancer awareness event. To do their part in the fight against breast cancer, the Wolfpack women wore pink jerseys, which were auctioned off to fans during the first half of the game. All proceeds from the silent auction went to the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.

“We want to be as supportive as we can to a great cause,” coach Steve Springthorpe said. “I have family members myself who have battled cancer and who have unfortunately lost that battle. So anything that we can do to help out, we want to do that. It’s a great day for that to recognize those survivors that are battling cancer now and those who have gone through it before.”

After the Pack’s disappointing 2-1 loss at Wake Forest Thursday night, goalie Kim Kern said the team was ready to take the field against Maryland.

“Close losses are always hard to take,” Kern said. “It’s always tough to take and we’ve gone through a lot of those in the last few games. Steve just keeps telling us it’s part of the growing process. We’ve been on this end of it a bunch, and sooner or later, we’ll be the one to get the goal.”

The players took the field in their pink jerseys and fought hard to limit Maryland to only three shot attempts in the first half as both teams ended the first half scoreless. Lately, scoring troubles have been a common theme for the Wolfpack, which has struggled with injuries and playing highly ranked opponents.

“Its tough,” Springthorpe said. “I feel for our team because we have been in those games, 1-0 to Boston College, losing in overtime to Wake and 1-0 here [against Maryland]. And all those teams are ranked in the top-25.

“Somewhere along the line we have to figure out a way to put the ball in the back of the net and keep the ball out of our own net. It’s a simple game. Unfortunately we’ve made some mistakes and we haven’t done what we need to do to get the results. But I am happy and we’re getting better, I do believe that.”

The second half picked up where the first left off with neither team scoring until over twenty minutes in. Finally at the 67:45 mark, Maryland’s Jasmyne Spencer scored the first goal of the game, giving the Terrapins a 1-0 lead. The goal does not take away from the great play of Kern, who made five saves in the loss.

“I was disappointed when that goal went in,” Kern said. “Especially since it was the end of the game, just 20 minutes left, but I guess I’m happy with the saves I’m making. It kind of stinks that there’s one every game that goes through. I just got to work on not letting that one goal in.”

Despite shots from six different State players, the team was unable to come back and win the game.

“It stinks,” junior forward Kristina Argiroff said. “We are really trying hard to get over the hump and it’s just a mental thing at this point because we know we can battle and are as good or just as good as any team we play.”

The women’s soccer team plays its next game against Miami on Thursday.

“We will definitely watch some film,” Springthorpe said. “Ultimately we’ll get some scouting reports, find out how they play and ultimately spend the next 3-4 days getting ready to compete in our next game.”