The Pack faced off against two in-state opponents this weekend in East Carolina and Elon, building up to the opening of the team’s ACC schedule Sept. 24 against Virginia.
The Pack battled East Carolina to a 2-2 draw Friday night at Dail Soccer Field. N.C. State jumped out to a quick lead with two goals in the first seven minutes of play, but let the Pirates back into the game in the latter part of the first half.
“We’re a bit dissapointed because we went up 2-0 early. It kind of looked like we were pressuring them and we did what we wanted to with the ball for probably the first 15-20 minutes,” coach Steve Springthorpe said.
Springthorpe said his team got a little shaky after ECU scored its first goal.
“I think we got a little rattled and a little tentative. Then they got the second goal, and all of a sudden we found ourselves saying ‘What just happened?’ We lost our composure a bit,” Springthorpe said.
Freshman midfielder Kara Blosser was frustrated the team couldn’t pull out a win.
“I’m taking nothing away from ECU, they are a great team, but we came out and we got on top in the first 10 minutes 2-0. If we get up 2-0 we should be able to win,” Blosser, who tallied her team-leading fifth goal of the season in the game, said.
Almost as frustrating as giving up a two goal lead was the way the goals were scored, according to Blosser. Both ECU tallies came on the team’s first two shots of the game.
“They had one shot and they scored, and then they had another shot and they scored. So they had two shots and two goals,” Blosser said. “It’s just frustrating to give up a 2-0 lead like that and not be able to come back from it.”
State regrouped at halftime, and played well down the stretch, Springthorpe said. But the Pack could never find the back of the net again.
“I’m happy with how we battled. We came back at halftime and played toe-to-toe with them as far as tackling and winning balls. Going into the overtime, I thought we did well … I thought we were the better team in terms of going to the ball and trying to keep the ball,” Springthorpe said.
Senior defender Katie Ruiz said she was also pleased with the team, but the ending left a lot to be desired.
“We are definitely satisfied with the effort, but we are not satisfied with the result. We shouldn’t have let up that two goal lead,” Ruiz said. “We really battled. They are a physical team. But with the result, we deserved to win tonight.”
The Pack regrouped in time for Sunday’s away game at Elon. Blosser scored her team-high sixth goal on the young season and Tanya Cain added another. Together, the duo has provided almost 65 percent of the team’s goals so far.
Kim Kern recorded her third shutout of the season. Former Pack goalkeeper Sydney Little turned away six of eight shots for Elon.
