The NC State women’s soccer team fell short of a win against No. 12 Notre Dame in the quarterfinals of the ACC championship on Sunday. NC State had numerous opportunities to score throughout the match but could never find the back of the net. Notre Dame scored late for the match’s only score and the Irish prevailed, 1-0.
The Wolfpack (10-8-1, 4-5-1 ACC) played toe-to-toe with the No. 1 ACC-ranked Irish (13-2-4, 7-1-2 ACC) for 88 minutes in South Bend, Indiana, but after Notre Dame found the back of the net with less than three minutes left on the clock, the Wolfpack was unable to score an equalizer and take the game to overtime.
The ACC women’s soccer conference is notoriously known for being the most brutal conference in all of women’s Division I soccer. Powerhouse programs such as Virginia, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, Florida State and Notre Dame all call the conference home among others. On top of this, the ACC only takes the top eight teams from its 14 team conference to participate in its end-of-season championship.
NC State advanced to the ACC championship after sneaking past Pittsburgh 2-1 in overtime last week to nab the eighth and final seed of the tournament. The Wolfpack surprised many doubters by making the championship after being picked to finish 13th out of 14 in the ACC. This set up a rematch with the ACC regular season champion Irish, which had beaten the Pack 1-0 in Raleigh back in late September.
Traveling up to play at Alumni Stadium on the campus of Notre Dame is no easy task for any women’s soccer team, as the Irish had only given up one goal at home all season. The Irish’s stout defense and all-ACC candidate goalkeeper played up to their reputations on Sunday, keeping the Wolfpack off of the scoreboard.
NC State’s defense, led by sophomore defenders Ella Bonner and Hannah Keogh held their ground against an unrelenting Notre Dame attack for nearly the entire match. The lone breakdown that led to the Irish goal came off of a corner kick that bounced around in the box before being driven home past sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Wootten.
The heartbreaking loss forces the Wolfpack team members to anxiously sit and wait for the upcoming NCAA tournament selection show on Nov. 7, awaiting the committee’s decision as to whether they made the field.
While NC State did not advance in the ACC championship, this season has been filled with broken records and has shown incredible promise. This year marked the first time the team had made the ACC tournament since 2006, the most overall wins since 2011 and the most ACC wins since 1995.
Ten different freshmen contributed in various ways throughout the season and the starting lineup consisted almost entirely of freshmen and sophomores. Regardless of whether the Wolfpack goes dancing in the NCAA tournament this season, the future is full of exciting anticipation.
