The No. 19 NC State women’s soccer team suffered its first ACC loss of the season to Virginia Tech on Thursday, Sept. 22. A poor overall performance from the Wolfpack resulted in a 1-0 loss to the Hokies.
After defeating Wake Forest on Sept. 18 in perhaps the Pack’s strongest win of the season, the red-and-white put on a less than desirable performance against Virginia Tech (7-2-1, 1-1 ACC). NC State (6-2-3, 1-1 ACC) couldn’t gain any traction on offense and got outgunned by the Hokies’ relentless attack.
“I thought they were very good at what they did,” said head coach Tim Santoro. “We tried to change some things. I think anything we tried, any combination wasn’t going to be good enough tonight. They were the better team tonight. Sometimes it’s that simple.”
Junior goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta was the lone bright spot for the Pack. She recorded nine saves despite the loss, a career-high for the veteran goalkeeper.
Echezarreta and the defense were able to fend off Virginia Tech’s offense for the majority of the match, with the junior making multiple impressive saves. However, the Pack’s defense let up 21 total shots from the Hokies, including 10 shots on goal. Eventually, Virginia Tech found the back of the net on a point-blank goal on Echezarreta’s near post in the 63rd minute.
While the Hokie offense hummed all game, the Pack’s attack couldn’t make enough plays to gain momentum in the attacking third. With just one shot on goal, NC State rarely earned any scoring opportunities due to Virginia Tech’s suffocating defense. Furthermore, the red-and-white struggled to even progress the ball outside of its own half.
With Virginia Tech firing off six shots in just the first 11 minutes, the Hokies took control of the game from the very beginning. By forcing Echezarreta to make six first half saves, the Hokies lived inside the Wolfpack’s half for the first 45 minutes.
NC State got off to a better start in the second half with a corner opportunity less than two minutes in. However, the momentum didn’t last as the Hokies quickly got back to their first half jazz, this time finally putting one past Echezarreta for the go-ahead goal.
For the remainder of the match, NC State desperately looked for an equalizer. Long passes from the midfield to senior forwards Jameese Joseph and Leyah Hall-Robinson looked promising, but Tech’s defense swiftly bottled up any attempts to put shots on net.
With the Hokie midfield and attack controlling the match, NC State just couldn’t find its rhythm on offense. However, Echezarretta and graduate defenders Jenna Butler and Lulu Guttenberger were integral in keeping the match at 1-0. Despite Echezarreta’s career-day in goal, the Pack couldn’t come up with the overall team performance it was looking for.
“I feel that we just barely showed up today,” Echezarreta said. “That was the plan. That was not what we expected. It was definitely not us.”
After the shaky performance against Virginia Tech, NC State’s schedule doesn’t get any easier from here. With multiple top-notch squads on the horizon, including its next four matches coming against ranked opponents, the Wolfpack will have to respond accordingly to get back in the win column.
“We have Duke, we have Clemson and Notre Dame, and then we have Carolina,” Santoro said. “So if you look at any poll right now you’ll see them all probably in the top eight.”
The Wolfpack has two ties in its previous two matches against ranked teams. However, NC State’s squad is playing some impressive soccer thus far and certainly has the potential to perform well against its challenging opposition.
The Pack’s next test will come against No. 5 Duke at Dail Soccer Field on Sunday, Sept. 25. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
