NC State women’s soccer fell to Duke 3-1 Sunday night at Dail Soccer Stadium. The Wolfpack fell short of a fourth ACC win and 10th win overall.
Three unanswered goals by the Blue Devils (10-2-2, 5-0-1 ACC) to begin the match proved too much for the Wolfpack (9-4-1, 3-2-1 ACC) to surmount as it dropped its second conference game of the season.
“Just have to fine tune a few things, and when you play a top 10 team some of those things can sometimes be big,” head coach Tim Santoro said. “I thought they had a couple individual players that were the difference for them tonight.”
The Blue Devils struck first in the 27th minute on a penalty kick. NC State defender Ella Bonner collided with a Duke player in the box, causing both players to fall and giving the referee a chance to blow her whistle signaling a penalty kick. The call was loudly questioned by both the Wolfpack bench and the fans that filled Dail. Duke defender Christina Gibbons converted the opportunity.
The Wolfpack was given a chance to even the score in the 38th minute when a Duke handball in its own box was whistled for a Pack penalty kick. Freshman Tziarra King stepped up to the plate to take the kick. but her low shot was saved by Duke goalkeeper EJ Proctor.
While NC State played well offensively in the closing minutes of the first half, an equalizer eluded it. On the other hand, throughout much of the half, whenever the Blue Devils gained control of the ball in their own defensive end they were able to dribble forward into NC State’s defense with little or no pressure coming from the Wolfpack midfield. Many of these opportunities led to Duke shots on goal.
Duke struck again in the 44th minute on a goal by freshman forward Ella Stevens. Stevens received a cross on the ground inside the 6-yard box and finished it on the first touch, upping the score to 2-0 in favor of Duke.
NC State had outshot its opponents 178-127 coming into the match, but Duke held the advantage 8-7 throughout the first half of play on Sunday night. The final shot tally of the night read 15-14 in Duke’s favor.
Duke’s final score came in the 59th minute on a rebound shot by junior Imani Dorsey. The goal put the Blue Devils up 3-0 and seemingly put the game all but out of reach for the Wolfpack.
Throughout the second half, State kept the pressure on the Devils. King took two more shots in the second half, both of which were on target and required the Duke goalie to make big saves.
In the 68th minute, a Wolfpack corner kick by sophomore Hannah Keogh was knocked out of the box and landed at the feet of freshman Ricarda Walkling, who ripped a shot into the crowded box. The ball was deflected by freshman Kia Rankin and into the back of the Duke net. The score was Rankin’s fourth of season and trimmed the Blue Devil lead to 3-1.
While the Pack kept applying offensive pressure, Duke’s lead held for the rest of the match. The Blue Devils remain undefeated in conference play on the season.
Despite the loss, Santoro was pleased with his team’s efforts.
“We’re in a good spot,” Santoro said. “That was a good performance by us tonight, it wasn’t a 3-1 game.”
Sophomore Hannah Keogh also had a positive outlook on the match.
“I think overall as team, this is the best game we’ve played so far this season,” Keogh said. “We’ll fix those little small details that put them on the scoreboard with three, and we’ll go forward with Florida State and be ready to win.”
The Pack will take on No. 2 Florida State at home on Saturday.
