On a soggy field in Blacksburg, Va., N.C. State forward? Lindsay Vera scored two first half goals to lift the Wolfpack to its second ACC victory, 2-1.
With the win, State moves to 2-3 in conference play and 7-4-2 overall and snaps a scoreless three-game skid.
“It was a pretty ugly game today for both teams,” coach Laura Kerrigan said. “I don’t think either team possessed very well it became a very direct game with the balls going from the front line to the back line. We possessed a little bit here and there but it was difficult with the field conditions.”
The two goals by Vera equal one more than the four previous conference games, and prompted Virginia Tech to swap goalies at halftime.
“It felt really good because I feel like I’ve been in a little slump, and my team has been telling me ‘It’s coming, you’re going to do it’ and [kept] supporting me,” Vera said.
Vera led the team in goals last season with five – the two goals Sunday give her four on the year, good for second highest on the team.
“They know I’ve been down and to score two goals today it really helped me finally relax and just realize if we play together something will happen,” Vera said.
Entering the contest, the Hokies boasted the ACC leader in assists, and two other players who had six goals apiece, but they did not get on the board until the 80th minute.
The eight saves by senior goalkeeper Megan Connors increased her season save total to 59. Connors entered the game fourth in the ACC in saves per game
“The ground and surface was really wet at the beginning of the game because of the rain last night and it was raining this morning,” Connors said.
“It’s always difficult to play in the rain because the ground’s wet and the ball is skipping. But I think we did a pretty good job of matching that.”
In just the fourth minute of the game freshman Chantelle Dugas found Vera for her first goal of the match.
“A lot of us were around the goal and I got the ball … and turned, took a few steps toward the middle and shot it, the keeper tried getting it but it had skipped on the ground and went in because the grass was wet,” Vera said.
Later on it was junior midfielder Tami Krzeszewski that found Vera, giving her three assists on the season.
“I beat one of their players and took it to the left side and shot it and it just kind of curved around the back side of the goal around the keeper,” Vera said.
Kerrigan said that scoring early, something that has been stressed in previous games, proved to be pivotal for her team’s attitude for the rest of the match.
“Lindsay finished very well today, and that’s great to go up 2-0 at halftime, [it] was a big push for us, it definitely gave us momentum going into the second half,” Kerrigan said.
Vera echoed her coach’s assessment about the two first half goals.
“We scored very early in the game which put them on their heels,” Vera said. “We just figured we couldn’t play a defensive game, we had to attack and the past couple games we had been playing more defensive. This game we really attacked and got two early goals and that enabled us to win.”
The Pack almost had its third goal of the day as Dugas’ bicycle kick attempt was deflected, just missing its target.
“It would have been the goal of the year if [their goalie] doesn’t touch it wide. It was pretty amazing, you don’t see that in women’s soccer too often,” Kerrigan said.
With each win counting for three points, and each tie for one point, Kerrigan stressed the importance of Sunday’s road victory as the team is halfway through the conference schedule.
“A win on the road in the ACC is a tough thing to come by,” Kerrigan said. “We’re very happy with finishing some of our scoring opportunities today so we’re to continue on with this momentum.”
