The women’s soccer team (7-4-2, 2-3 ACC) will host Maryland (4-7-2, 0-4-1 ACC) at 3 p.m. today at Method Road Soccer Stadium. N.C. State is coming off a 2-1 win against Virginia Tech this past Sunday and is looking to even its ACC record with a win.
A win would bring the Wolfpack’s conference record to 3-3, which would give State its most ACC wins since 1996. According to head coach Laura Kerrigan, the Pack will look to carry its successes from the Virginia Tech game, particularly in the first half, into today’s match against the Terrapins.
“Well, I thought we finished really well in the first half,” Kerrigan said. “We possessed well in the first half, and it created a lot of scoring opportunities. We want to make sure we maintain the possession from that game and carry it into this game. We’ve worked on transition and possessing like we did at times in the Virginia Tech game.”
Even though the Terrapins have yet to win a conference match, Kerrigan said the game will prove competition against a talented Maryland team.
“People look at Maryland’s record and think, ‘Oh man they must not be very good,'” Kerrigan said. “That’s just [the] strength of our league. Somebody’s gonna be at the bottom, and somebody’s gonna be on the top. But everybody is capable.”
Kerrigan said the Terrapins’ season this year closely resembles that of the Wolfpack’s a year ago, losing many close games.
“If you look at Maryland’s scores, every game has been close,” Kerrigan said. “They are where we were last year, where we were losing every game by one goal. They’re still a very good team.”
According to junior midfielder Jessica O’Rourke, the goal for the Pack is to finish at least .500 in a dominant conference and make the NCAA tournament. The ACC currently boasts five teams ranked in the top 25 nationally.
“We have six points in the ACC now,” O’Rourke said. “If we get a couple more wins, we’ve got a good shot at making both the ACC and the NCAA tournaments, and we feel good about it.”
O’Rourke, who is tied for second in the ACC in goals scored this season with seven, said the key to winning will be to finish games with the relentlessness the Pack often exhibits in first-half play.
“It comes down to finishing out the games and doing what you need to do,” O’Rourke said. “The games that we didn’t finish, I honestly feel we could have won them, but we just didn’t quite come to play that day. It has to come from everybody.”
According to O’Rourke, Maryland has become a rival of the Pack after beating State by one goal the past two years.
“Maryland has always been kind of a rival team for us, you know,” O’Rourke said. “They’ve knocked us out 1-0 the last couple years. It’s a big game for a lot of people. We’ve got a lot of girls from Maryland, so it should be a good one.”
Meanwhile, Kerrigan said State is ready for the challenge.
“Every game in the ACC is gonna be a battle,” Kerrigan said. “If we get three points tomorrow, that will put us in a good position for the ACC tournament, although everyone in our league is capable of winning three games. We just have to focus on the game in front of us. It’s just another game where you try to get three points.”
