On a dreary Thursday night in Dail Soccer Stadium, the NC State women’s soccer team fell to Notre Dame 1-0.
A first-half goal by Notre Dame proved to be the difference maker in the match, as an equalizer eluded NC State. The Wolfpack dropped to 7-3-0 and the Fighting Irish improved to 6-1-3.
“I think we had a couple letdowns,” head coach Tim Santoro said. “They’re a good team; one goal will punish you.”
After Notre Dame held the offensive advantage for the first 25 minutes of the half, the Pack answered by getting three shots and five corner kicks in the span of the next ten minutes. Despite the vast array of opportunities, the match remained scoreless.
NC State sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Wootten denied Notre Dame forward Meghan Doyle on a breakaway in the 36th minute. Wootten stretched out to make the save in a remarkable display of athleticism, deflecting the shot safely wide.
Notre Dame took a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute when Irish sophomore Shannon Hendricks sent a cross into the Wolfpack penalty area, giving freshman Alexis Martel-Lamothe the opportunity to run onto it for a one-touch finish, leaving Wootten no chance for a save.
The score heading into halftime read 1-0 in favor of the Irish.
In the second half, the Fighting Irish pushed many of its offensive players forward, forcing the Wolfpack backline to play on its heels. Defender Ella Bonner played lights out for the Pack, thwarting numerous Irish threats on goal and clearing the ball out of the defensive third time and time again.
“Ella’s been solid for us all year,” Santoro said. “Our whole backline and [Wootten] have been good for the most part, every game.”
The Wolfpack found itself with a very good chance to put a goal away in the 75th minute after a sequence of events following a free kick gave midfielder Ricarda Walkling a shot from the top of the box. Due to the amount of bodies in the box, however, the shot was deflected and ended up bouncing out of play.
After playing defensively for most of the second half, the final 15 minutes of the game saw the Wolfpack intensely attacking on goal. The opportunities made by the team upped the energy level of the crowd in Dail, and subsequently fed back into the intensity of the players on the field as well.
The Wolfpack was unable to capitalize, however, on several goal scoring chances.
The score remained 1-0 as time expired, giving the Wolfpack its first conference loss on the season, dropping it to 1-1 in ACC play.
“Some of our decision making, the quality in the final third, it wasn’t good enough,” Santoro said. “We have a couple days to turnaround, get ready for Wake, and we’ll be ready.”
The Pack will take on Wake Forest at Dail Soccer Stadium Sunday evening at 7 p.m.
Junior Cailyn Boch passes the ball while being covered by a Notre Dame player. Boch took one shot on goal but did not score. The NC State Women's Soccer team lost 0-1 to Notre Dame at Dail Soccer Field on Sept. 22.
