The No. 17 NC State women’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday, Sept. 4 to Harvard, whose stifling defense played a major role in the Crimson’s 2-0 win. 

NC State (4-1-1) was frustrated all match by Harvard’s (4-0) defense as the Pack rarely found a way to reach the attacking third. Once there, however, Crimson defenders seemed to outnumber and swarm NC State’s attackers, making goal-scoring opportunities few and far between. Meanwhile, Harvard turned defense into offense by scoring goals in the 31st and 50th minutes, earning it the 2-0 victory. 

“I think they controlled the entire game to be completely honest,” said graduate defender and team captain Lulu Guttenberger. “I think in all lines they were just better than us today.”

For the entirety of the match, Harvard’s pressure was stifling, making it a challenge for the Wolfpack to merely progress the ball out of its own defensive third. That pressure proved to force turnovers as well, with the Crimson earning multiple possessions in NC State territory via the takeaway. 

That pressure paid dividends for the Harvard offense as the Crimson earned 6 corners and 9 shots in the first half alone. But the Pack’s defense held strong for the first 30 minutes as defenders repeatedly blocked shots, denied passes into the box and cleared the ball. Junior goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta also recorded three saves in that time, but the defensive stand didn’t last forever as the Crimson finally broke through in the 31st minute. 

Harvard restricted NC State’s offense by controlling possession and keeping the Wolfpack contained in its own half.. Senior forward Leyah Hall-Robinson and sophomore midfielder Annika Wohner managed to fire shots off, but those were the only ones the Pack mustered in the first half. 

After getting outgunned in the first half by seven shots, NC State didn’t fare much better in the second. Harvard’s defense continued to frustrate the Wolfpack all the way to the final whistle. By the end of the game, Harvard outperformed the Pack in almost every statline. The Crimson took 16 shots to NC State’s six and earned ten corners to the Wolfpack’s zero; without these opportunities the Pack had little chance of scoring.

A key point in the match occurred when Harvard sophomore forward Ainsley Ahmadian scored her second goal of the game. After Ahmadian’s brace, the Wolfpack was never able to recover and rally back. Instead, the team’s energy dwindled towards the back end of the game. 

“I think we came out slow today,” Guttenberger said. “There’s no excuses and we can’t make excuses. We just gotta be ready to go every time we step on the field. There are no days where we can slow down or take a little bit of our foot off the gas.”

NC State did take more shots down the stretch than it did in the first half. Senior forward Jameese Joseph led the charge offensively, taking three shots in the second half. While none resulted in a goal, her aggressive mentality helped create a bit of pressure on Harvard’s defense.

Even though NC State suffered its first loss of the season, head coach Tim Santoro thinks the team will fare just fine in its upcoming matches. 

“It’s one game, and we’ll bounce back,” Santoro said. “We’re a good team and we’ll get a few bodies back, get a little deeper and we’ll be fine.”

Despite the poor showing, the Wolfpack sits at 4-1-1 after a strong start to the year. With road trips to Nebraska and South Carolina on deck, the Wolfpack has an opportunity to rebound against two formidable opponents.

The Wolfpack will travel to Nebraska to take on the Cornhuskers on Thursday, Sept. 8. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.