With three games under its belt, the NC State women’s soccer team is showing promise with a 2-1 record. With all three being away games, the Wolfpack plans to take on Iowa at home in its season opener Thursday.

The team’s first and only loss so far came against the No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks, losing 2-1. The other two games, against No. 7 Georgetown and Monmouth, both ended in wins for the Wolfpack, with scores of 3-1 and 1-0, respectively.

The Wolfpack’s offense and defense are working extremely well, averaging 1.67 goals per game as opposed to their opponents’ 1.00 goals per game. As a team, they also shoot more, averaging around 12 shots per game while allowing around 10.3 shots per game.

Three players have been credited with goals for the Wolfpack, including senior midfielder Tziarra King (two goals), senior defender Kristina Schuster (two goals) and sophomore midfielder Toni Starova (one goal).

King has been a major factor in the offense, with four of her seven shots on goal.  Freshman forward Jameese Joseph also has seven shots but no goals.

On defense, junior Jessica Berlin has played goalkeeper for all three games and is expected to play against Iowa. Only allowing three goals, she has faced 13 shots and recorded a shutout against Monmouth.

The key takeaway is to improve the offense. Sharing the ball is not a problem, as five different players have an assist apiece, but just three players have goals.  With a shots-on-goal percentage of just 44.4, getting more shots on net could help the Wolfpack score more goals.