The No. 20 NC State women’s soccer squad took the field against High Point University on senior night at Dail Soccer Field, beating the Panthers 3-1 on Thursday, Sept. 15.
Freshman defender Brooklyn Holt and senior forward Jameese Joseph led the charge for the Wolfpack’s (5-1-3) dominant offense. Junior goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta, who recorded three saves, had another impressive performance in goal this season.
Most notably, however, the NC State offense found its footing after a rough stretch in its past three games. After being outshot 49-14 and failing to score in those matches, NC State fired off 25 shots against the Panthers (1-6-2). 10 of those shots were on goal as the Pack seemed to regain its offensive prowess it displayed early on this season.
Joseph was one of the five players celebrated on senior night and once again made crucial plays on the offensive end, recording her fourth goal and second assist of the season against High Point.
“I thought we played well,” Joseph said. “We started off strong. We had a lot of shots that we normally don’t have in other games, so I thought that was good. We were just attacking more.”
It was evident that the Wolfpack’s offense found its rhythm from the very start of the match when Holt scored the first goal in the 12th minute on an assist by Joseph.
“I think we’ve just been trying to connect more and feed off of each other,” Joseph said. “I think we’re gelling more as a team, especially the offense.”
The second goal came off the foot of sophomore defender Brianna Weber in the 28th minute. Holt assisted her after senior forward Alexis Strickland danced with the ball in front of the Panthers goalkeeper and defenders in the box. Strickland made sure the ball found its way to Holt, who slotted it away.
The game slowed down after the first two goals, but the Wolfpack found the net a third time when Joseph scored her goal in the 52nd minute with assists from sophomore midfielder Annika Wohner and sophomore defender Fernanda Soto. However, shortly after, the Panthers scored their first and only goal of the game in the 57th minute off a corner kick.
Soto played a statistically quiet but key role in the win. The sophomore had the ball on a string every time she touched it, performing elite dribble moves that lost her defenders multiple times throughout the game. Sophomore defender Nina Zimmer also played a crucial role for the Pack, helping to shut down the Panthers’ offense. She was physical and fought on every play, refusing to let her opponents advance the ball past her.
In spite of the impressive stats for the offense, the Pack didn’t play a flawless game by any stretch. Turnovers and a lack of final passes in the attacking third may have restricted opportunities for even more scoring, something NC State will have to improve upon as it rapidly approaches the start of conference play.
“It’s a good way to end nonconference, with a win,” said head coach Tim Santoro. “I don’t think the performance was clean, but we keep pushing to be close to perfect.”
While the victory versus High Point gets the red-and-white back in the win column, the squad will now begin to face a daunting lineup of ACC opponents and will need to play to its fullest potential to find success within the conference.
The first challenge comes on Sunday, Sept. 18, when NC State faces off against Wake Forest at Dail Soccer Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
