The NC State women’s soccer team will open the season on the road against the No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina finished last season 14-6-1 and has multiple strong defenders on its roster.
The Pack played in an exhibition match against Charleston Monday night, which it won 4-2, with senior midfielder Tziarra King leading the Wolfpack with two goals.
For fans, the season opener will be an opportunity to see how the strong signing class of the Wolfpack will fare against elite talent in the NCAA. This signing class includes goalkeeper Eden Millan, midfielder Jaiden Thomas, and forwards Jameese Joseph and Leyah Hall-Robinson, who scored in the match against Charleston.
Joining the freshman class will be strong transfer additions in junior defender MacKenzie Crittenberger, from Charleston, whom the Pack just defeated, sophomore defender Margot Ridgeway, and sophomore midfielders Toni Starova, who also scored a goal in the exhibition match, and Sandra Geiselhart.
This will also be a chance to see how junior goalkeeper Jessica Berlin will adapt to more playing time, though Millan will likely see some time in the net as well.
While the Pack will be seeing a transition in the net, the Gamecocks will not. Mikayala Krzeczowski is entering her senior season for the Gamecocks and has started every year for South Carolina. Krzeczowski made the All-SEC first team both last season and in her freshman season and made the All-SEC second team in her sophomore season.
Krzeczowski has quite the resume for the record books for South Carolina, including her career goals-against average of 0.5, which ranks first in school history alongside her 34 career clean sheets. She also ranks third in school history for matches started.
Joining Krzeczowski on the defensive side of the field is 2018 SEC Defensive Player of the Year Grace Fisk who, like Krzeczowski, was named to the All-SEC first team last season. Fisk’s gritty defensive fire is marked by the fact that she has 90 minutes or more in each of 12 matches for the Gamecocks last season.
The Pack will also have to watch out for senior offensive talent Elexa Bahr, who ranks tied for second all-time for South Carolina for goals scored in NCAA tournament play.
Two other midfielders to watch out for are Lauren Chang and Jyllissa Harris. Chang placed on the All-SEC second team last season, and Harris last year was on the SEC All-Freshman team and finished second on the team in goals scored and third on the team in total points.
South Carolina will prove to be an incredibly difficult opener for the Pack, which is unranked to begin the season. The team is likely just on the outside of the rankings, though, as it finished last season at 11-7-4 and made it to the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Pack will have to turn around and travel to Georgetown three days later and face the seventh-ranked team in the nation, marking an extraordinarily grueling part of the schedule for the team.
In terms of the Gamecocks, though, the Pack will be able to come away with the victory if they are able to score on such tight defense in and around the net.
The Pack faced off against South Carolina last season in a 2-1 winning effort, though the Pack is just 2-5 all-time against the Gamecocks. Utilizing the offensive firepower of King will be necessary in order to come away with the win, and the new faces on the Pack will also need to chip into the scoring load, a plausible feat from a team that put up four goals in its single exhibition match.
Kickoff for the match is at 7 p.m. in the Gamecock Soccer Complex on Aug. 22. The match can be viewed on the SEC Network.
