The women’s soccer team fell at Dail Soccer Park Thursday night to Wake Forest 2-0.  Though the game time temperature was 53 degrees and a drizzle fell throughout the game soaking the field, but coach Steve Springthorpe did not think the conditions had any effect on the game. ”This is great weather to play soccer in actually,” Springthorpe said. “If you’re on the field running around, you feel great.” The Demon Deacons came charging out of the gates with a score by forward Allie Sadow in the sixth minute on a cross from Jackie Logue, but N.C. State was unable to keep up the early attack, combining for just four shots in the first half. Even though the first half was relatively quiet offensively, it did provided yelling from both coaches at referee Michael Salyers about a lack of fouls being called. ”The first half he didnt really want to call anything for either team,” Springthorpe said. “We yelled at him, I think the fourth official talked to him, and then he started calling really everything.” Halfway through the first half Salyers could even be heard yelling to the coaches, “We’re going to call everything now.” The Wolfpack came out with a sense of urgency in the second half with shots from freshman midfielder Kara Blosser, sophomore forward Paige Dugal and senior defenseman Gia Cipollini in the first six minutes of the half. ”We were down 1-0 at half, so we had to come out early and get the equalizer,” Cipollini said. “We knew we had to calm down, play it around a little, and finish our opportunities.” However, it was Wake that was able to finish on its opportunities, scoring in the 63rd minute on a fast break by Sadow from a pass by forward Kaley Fountain, giving Wake a 2-0 lead. The Pack had chances down the stretch firing eight shots in the second half but was unable to get any into the back of the goal. ”We were more agressive [in the second half],” Springthorpe said. “The girls played hard, fought hard, tried to come back but just couldn’t find a goal unfortunately.” Cipollini and junior midfielder Alyson Santilli were each given a yellow card in the second half for being verbally unsportsmanlike. ”I don’t want our players getting cards for saying things to the referee in the heat of the battle,” Springthorpe said. “We have to be more mature about things like that.” Cipollini said the players do not mean to yell at each other, but the high emotions are a result of frustration. ”That has a lot to do with us trying to keep our composure,” Cipollini said. “We don’t mean to yell at each other, but to get to somebody you have to try to yell at them to get in their head.” Blosser led the Wolfpack with three shots. ”For the No. 6 team in the nation, I thought we played pretty well,” Blosser said. “Coming in here, of course when they have a number six in front of their name you get a little intimidated, but I thought we hung with them.” The game was the third in a row for the Pack against an opponent ranked sixth or higher. ”This is why you play in the ACC,” Springthorpe said. “When you sign up to play at N.C. State, that’s what you want, that’s what you’re expecting.” With four conference games remaining, Springthorpe is optimistic about the direction the team is moving. ”I think we’re improving, no matter what the record says,” Springthorpe said. “Hopefully out of the four ACC games we have left we can find a way to get a win, two wins, a tie, and put ourselves in a position to go to the [ACC] tournament.” The team will travel to play Maryland Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ”Hopefully we can just move forward and prepare for Maryland,” Blosser said. “Yeah, we lost this game but we played a lot better than we did against Carolina, so we’re progressing in a good direction.”