The NC State women’s soccer team has its first official home game of the season Thursday evening against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Dail Soccer Field.
The Pack currently has a 2-1 record with a close loss on the road against No. 15 South Carolina and two dominantwins over No. 7 Georgetown and Monmouth.
The Hawkeyes have also started their season strong on a 4-0 record and wins against Western Michigan, Northern Iowa, Iowa State and Illinois State. The match against the Pack will be the Hawkeyes’ first away game of the season.
Senior midfielder Tziarra King and senior defender Krissi Schuster both lead the Pack with two goals each and will be looking to raise that number this Thursday. Schuster’s goal in the 74th minute against Monmouth proved to be the difference-maker in a close 1-0 game.
King will be unavailable for the game against Iowa, however, with the midfielder receiving a red card in the win over Monmouth.
Junior goalkeeper Jessica Berlin will be in the net for the Wolfpack. She is coming off one of her strongest games, with her first career shutout and three saves at Monmouth, including saving a penalty kick at the start of the second half.
The Hawkeyes are led by senior midfielder and defender Natalie Winters, who enters Thursday’s game with three goals and an assist, and senior defender Hannah Drkulec, who was last week’s Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week.
These next few matches are crucial for the Pack, as they start another long road trip Sept. 18 featuring games against UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke and Wake Forest. Adding a few wins before these rivalry matchups should increase NC State’s position in the NCAA rankings.
The Wolfpack has its first home game of the regular season this Thursday, Sept. 5 at Dail Soccer Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on the ACC Network Extra.
