In the season debut for NC State women’s soccer, the Wolfpack beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 2-0 in an exhibition match at Dail Soccer Field in Raleigh, on Monday, August 8.
As the two sides began the game eager to prepare for their respective regular season debuts, it was NC State who had clear control of the modified, three-period exhibition game. With a clear focus on putting practice from the offseason into play, the Pack had both familiar faces and new ones put a mark on the preseason match.
One of these new faces, senior forward Alexis Strickland, made an impact almost immediately after being subbed into the game in the first period as she buried NC State’s first goal of the season in the bottom left corner of the net.
“I was just very eager to step on the field,” Strickland said. “I knew that once I got through it, I was just gonna give it my all, play 100 percent and the ball ended up in the back of the net.”
Strickland, a new addition for NC State via transfer from Oklahoma, also played at UNC-Chapel Hill and with the North Carolina Courage. With her wide range of experience, she will no doubt have a large level of involvement with the team’s offense going forward, which she already showed tonight throughout the game. She’ll also be an asset to the squad off the field, as she’s eager to help lead her team thanks to those experiences.
“I’m excited to be here and just bring everything that I learned from a competitive aspect, all the leadership skills I learned from the girls in my other team environments and just bring it here and show the girls,” Strickland said.
Another team leader that made a big impact was a familiar face, graduate student defender Lulu Guttenberger, who scored NC State’s second goal of the game via penalty kick.
The Pack’s captain, team veteran and star defender actively makes an impact in the attacking third of every game, and this time was no different. In addition to her PK goal, Guttenberger, along with sophomore midfielder Annika Wohner, assisted on Strickland’s earlier goal.
With Guttenberger getting it done all over the field, she also helped junior goalkeeper Maria Echezarreta keep a clean sheet. With three effortless saves, Echezarreta didn’t seem to skip a beat after being one of the brightest spots on the team in 2021.
With an unflinching defense behind it, the Pack’s offense was able to engineer a few more promising chances after Guttenberger’s second-period goal while still working out some communication and passing kinks in its attacking play. Work from Strickland, fellow senior forward Jameese Joseph and multiple other midfielders made sure to keep the pressure on the Buckeyes for the remainder of the match.
With a solid night’s worth of preparation and takeaways for the regular season, the Wolfpack gave a strong glimpse into the promising team that is set to play its first regular season game on Thursday, August 18. However, head coach Tim Santoro put an emphasis on how important the win is to the culture and chemistry of the team.
“We won the game. I mean, from a competitive standpoint, we’ve talked about winning,” Santoro said. “It has to be infectious, the only way you learn to win is to win. So we knew tonight wouldn’t be great, but we wanted to win the game.”
NC State will be able to relish in that win until Thursday, August 8, where the Pack will take on Rhode Island in the first regular season match of the 2022 season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Dail Soccer Field in Raleigh.
