Under a blistering sun at the N.C. State/Residence Inn North Soccer Tournament Sunday, the women’s soccer team (5-0) defeated Stetson 3-2 at the school’s new soccer field.
Just four minutes after the opening whistle, Stetson’s Heather Berg outran the Wolfpack defenders and scored off an assist from Emily Yero giving the Hatters a 1-0 advantage they would hold for the rest of the half.
“It was the first time we had been down at halftime this season,” sophomore forward Kara Baldy said. “We had a good halftime speech and we stayed positive and just came out knowing what we needed to do.”
With 13 shots in the first half, State had out-shot Stetson but had not scored. Baldy started the second half and maneuvered her way into an assist to freshman forward Paige Dugal, sparking the team to open the second half.
The score soon favored the Wolfpack 2-1. Baldy scored a goal from the left flank, 20 yards out, to the top corner of the net, assisted by Nadia Alboulhosn and Meredith Parrilla.
The Pack increased its lead with a third goal, this one off of a penalty kick from Lindsay Vera, the team’s leading scorer.
State reeled off four times the amount of shots than Stetson did in the second half alone. But with less than three minutes to go, Stetson’s Tessa Gavilsky scored off of a goal kick against State sophomore goalie Rachel Barnette.
“Time is not favoring us green. Don’t quit!” a player on Stetson’s bench said. But time did run out giving the Pack a 3-2 victory.
“Being a part of the team is just great,” Dugal said. “The girls have been so helpful and supportive on and off the field. Our play is positively affected from our good chemistry.”
Junior defender Gia Cipollini attributed much of this season’s early success to that same team chemistry.
“I love this year. The atmosphere is just awesome with the field being in the center of campus,” Cipollini said. “Today we came out on the field and had good passing and good flow. The second half we really started connecting with the forwards. We are going to work on communication more.”
The Pack has already set its goals for the season and coach Laura Kerrigan said the team is already beginning to reach them.
“I was pleased with today’s play. We came out calm and cool and had a lot of shots which gave us a lot of confidence,” Kerrigan said. “All of our players are starting to really come on, which gives us depth and makes us dangerous. We are going to continue to find the slot and work on crossing over from the outside to the middle of the field.”
The Pack will be back in action this Friday at N.C. State Soccer Stadium facing Campbell.
