For the second time this year, N.C. State (8-5-2, 3-4 ACC) will host a conference opponent team ranked second or higher in the nation, and this time it is rival North Carolina (16-1, 8-0 ACC).
The rivalry game comes at a pivotal point in the team’s season, as it tries to improve its standing in the ACC. Despite amassing the most conference wins since 1996, the Wolfpack is in eighth place, just above the cutoff for the teams that advance to the conference tournament in November.
“We want to be seeded as high as possible so we can make the ACC Tournament, [and] we’re still trying to secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament so the rest of the games from here on out — all of them are important,” freshman defender Katie Ruiz said.
The result of today’s game could greatly affect postseason implications as the team winds down the year. With a win, State would be tied for fourth in the ACC, whereas a tie would lead to a four-team logjam for fifth place. A loss would leave them where they are.
“Everybody on the team knows where we are, they’re asking me questions every day about the NCAA Tournament and the ACC Tournament,” coach Laura Kerrigan said. “It’s not a topic that I have to bring up, I think everybody on our team is looking into where we can finish and how high we can finish.”
In last year’s match-up, a penalty kick was the lone goal of the game, and the players said it is most always a game they get up for more than the others.
“We’re ready to win; it’s always a challenge playing against a team like Carolina, but we always come playing hard against them,” senior defender Michelle Massey said. “It’s exciting to play a top-5 team because all the pressure’s on them. We just have to come out and play hard and we’ll win.”
Kerrigan said her team’s strength of possessing will be key in avoiding the turnovers that Carolina tries to create with its style of play.
“We’ve played a lot in small spaces to simulate pressure because Carolina’s system is being about pressure,” Kerrigan said. “Their whole system of play is based on getting tons of pressure on the ball and trying to create turnovers in their front half of the field.”
While no one on the team was on the field for the program’s last win over the Tar Heels back in 2002, players said that this is usually a hard-fought, closley-contested game.
“We always come out and play them tough,” junior midfielder Jessica O’Rourke said. “Growing up they’re always the team that you either want to play for them or you want to play against them to beat them. I think a lot of girls on the team have that mentality, that it’s more of an accomplishment to beat this team. We always come out fighting hard against them, I think we match up pretty good against them.”
Massey was sitting out her redshirt year during the improbable upset in 2002 and said she is one of the players who has always wanted to defeat the Heels on the field.
“I wouldn’t say there’s bad blood,” she said. “I grew up a State fan, so I’ve always rooted against Carolina. They’re a good team and you always want to beat a good team. There’s definitley a rivalry there, and it’s always exciting to play in the game.”
The team has been riddled with inconsistent results almost all year long. After shutting out Maryland and allowing just one shot on goal, the team surrendered three goals versus Boston College and forced goalie Megan Connors to make a season-high 10 saves.
O’Rourke talked about having more consistent effort throughout the week and throughout the game as a possible solution to the sporadic results.
“You have to come out and want it every day,” O’Rourke said. “You have to be willing every day to give it your best. You’ve got to go hard for everything and you have be mentally tough for everything because that one ball, that one drop, that one kick, that might be the goal and might be the end of the game.”
After originally being scheduled an hour later, the game’s starting time has been pushed up to 3 p.m.
