The NC State women’s soccer team will host Navy on Friday in the first round of the NCAA championship. The match is set to kick off at 7 p.m.
The Wolfpack (10-6-4, 4-2-4 ACC) is coming off of a 3-0 loss to rival UNC-Chapel Hill in the semifinals of the ACC championship. However, the team’s overtime upset against then No. 14 Louisville in the ACC championship helped significantly with its placement in the NCAA championship and even bumped Louisville down to an unseeded team in the championship.
All season, the Wolfpack has shown the ability to compete with the top teams in the country, tying with No. 1 UVA 0-0, beating No. 18 Georgetown 3-1 and beating No. 22 Louisville twice in the same week.
Navy (16-2-3, 6-1-2 Patriot League) finished first in the Patriot League and won the Patriot League conference championship. Although it has a strong record and win percentage, the team has not had any wins against ranked opponents. Navy only played one team from a major conference this year, LSU, and lost 1-0 in overtime.
Navy’s offense has been decent this season scoring 28 goals in 21 games. Its offense is led by midfielder Baseley McClaskey, who has compiled 14 points this season from four goals and six assists. Navy has also seen significant production from midfielder Carolyn Mang off the bench, who has five goals while only starting three games all season. However, Navy’s offense is not its strong suit.
Navy’s defense has been solid all regular season, only allowing nine goals in 21 games, which is a stunning average of 0.43 goals by opponents per game. That average is No. 7 in the nation in goals allowed per game. Navy’s defense is led by goalkeeper Sydney Fortson who has 36 saves on the season with a .800 save percentage. Along with the impressive save statistics, Fortson has stacked on 10 clean sheets throughout the season.
The NC State offense has consistently produced all season with 1.55 goals per game compared to Navy’s 1.33. The Wolfpack’s offense is led by senior midfielders Tziarra King and Ricci Walkling. King has been absolutely dominant with 32 points this season from 13 goals and six assists. Her 13 goals put her at 28th in the nation in goals scored this season. Walkling has accumulated 12 points this season and has been a facilitator on offense with eight assists on the season, while adding on two goals. The seniors have brought a great amount of experience and leadership to the relatively young Wolfpack offense.
The NC State defense has not been nearly as strong as Navy’s offense, with the Wolfpack allowing exactly 1.00 goal per game compared to Navy’s 0.43. Despite the average not looking too great, the NC State defense has had five shutouts throughout the season, one coming against No. 1 Virginia. The NC State defense is led by junior goalkeeper Jessica Berlin who has 57 saves on an impressive percentage of .770. The consistently strong play by senior defender Krissi Schuster and redshirt sophomore Lulu Guttenberger has contributed as well.
For the Wolfpack, scoring against Navy’s defense is going to be an extremely difficult task. However, scoring on tough defenses has not been a problem this season for NC State. The team has scored a goal against the No. 1 defense in the nation, Monmouth, and defeated them 1-0. The Wolfpack also scored against South Carolina, which has the No. 2 defense in the nation but lost 2-1.
The Wolfpack offense needs to continue to produce like it has all season. However, the NC State defense needs to step up against a Navy offense that has averaged close to the number of goals of NC State. The winner of this match will take on the winner of No. 3 seed Arkansas and North Texas.
The match will kick off Friday, Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. at Dail Soccer Field and will be televised on ACC Network Extra.
