The women’s soccer team played the first ever game at Derr Soccer Stadium on Thursday in the final spring game for N.C. State, as it defeated the UNC-Greensboro 2-1.

The first half of the game saw a lot of action on the Wolfpack’s end. The Spartans had six shots on goal, scoring once and putting the Wolfpack at a 1-0 halftime deficit.

Sophomore Briana Cunningham scored two goals early in the second half, lifting the pack to a 2-1 lead. But with 14:18 left in regulation, State would give up the tying goal. The game seemed destined to be a tie, as the public address announcer counted down the final seconds. However, the coaches met to shake hands, and they agreed to allow the game to proceed to overtime. Coach Laura Kerrigan said her team would not be satisfied with a tie.

“It’s important for us to get the win tonight,” Kerrigan said. “We were very insistent that we didn’t want to end with a tie. We wanted to go to overtime and win the game and inaugurate the field with a win.”

Less than a minute into overtime, a pass from Cunningham put sophomore defender Gia Cipollini on a breakaway. Cipollini capitalized to give the Pack the 3-2 victory.

It was the team’s first game in its new facility since moving from the Method Road Soccer Stadium, which did not have any lighting, making night games impossible. Cunningham said she is excited about the accessibility of Derr Park to students since it is on campus.

“We’re excited to finally be able to have people come out and watch our games,” Cunningham said. “[Also], in Method there were no lights and games were during class times. It was amazing playing in front of a big crowd finally.”

According to Kerrigan, spring has been beneficial for N.C. State, and the team looks forward to the new season.

“This has been a huge transformation of our team this spring. I couldn’t even start to describe it,” Kerrigan said. “We are a much fitter team, we are a much more positive team [and] we are moving the ball much better.”