Alex Manuel
Redshirt junior forward Erica Roberts slices the ball past a defender during the game against Western Carolina at Dail Soccer Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. The Wolfpack lost to the Catamounts 3-2.
The Wolfpack (0-4-1) struggled to score once again in a crushing loss against the Western Carolina Catamounts (2-2-1) at home.
The Pack unloaded at the net, as they posted 23 shots to Western Carolina’s six. Ultimately, the accuracy of the Catamounts in close earned them the win as they went three for three on shots on goal and took the match 3-2.
Off to a solid start, the Wolfpack controlled the ball for most of the first half, and within the 21st minute, junior forward Jade Bordeleau struck nylon for the Pack, securing a 1-0 lead. But Western would quickly counter with a goal of its own in the 39th minute to tie it 1-1 going into halftime.
The second half would bring much of the same for the first 30 minutes of play, as both teams traded goals bringing the score to 2-2 in the 65th minute.
After junior forward Jade Bordeleau scored what seemed like her third goal of the night, the referees stopped the play to review Bordeleau’s potential hat trick. However, luck did not favor the Wolfpack as the call was overturned and the score set back to 2-2.
Deflated, the Wolfpack couldn’t hold on defensively and allowed a Catamount game winner in the 85th minute.
“I’m just absolutely devastated for the girls,” head coach Gary Higgins said.“That’s a tough one to take. With all the opportunities and all the shots we had, because I thought we definitely deserved [the win].”
On the bright side, Bordeleau and her running mate freshman forward Daisy Duda looked like a well-oiled machine on the attack. Even though Bordeleau went down with an injury, she stayed on the attack. Bordeleau scored both goals off assists from Duda.
“Jade obviously kept on pushing,” Higgins said. “Daisy is a freshman that looks dangerous and works extremely hard, so yeah, I was proud of them.”
With Higgins’ new offensive system, the Pack have been producing chances, but can’t seem to convert when it matters. Higgins bears a lot of the burden of the loss, but he knows that the girls are just as devastated.
“If we weren’t creating those opportunities, I would be a lot more worried. But we’ve outshot every team that we played against this year,” Higgins said. “It’s tough to take when you’re dominating a game like we did tonight but we’ve got to keep going. There’s a lot of soccer left.”
Nevertheless, the Pack has now recorded their fourth loss of the season and are still chasing that all so sweet first victory. With another close defeat to a non-conference team, the Pack might be running out of good opportunities to win as they are yet to face a brutal ACC schedule.
The team faces perhaps their last opportunity to capitalize in its upcoming game against non-conference opponent Utah (2-1).
“It’s going to be a very difficult game,” Higgins said when asked about facing Utah. “We’ve got a difficult schedule, but we’ll keep on pushing and hopefully get that first victory and get some positive momentum going our way.”
The Wolfpack will take on Utah Sunday, Aug. 31. The game is slated to start at 9 p.m.