The NC State women’s soccer team beat UNC-Wilmington 2-1 on Wednesday evening in the team’s second game of the spring season.
With the score locked at 1-1 after 90, the two teams headed into overtime in search of a winner. That search did not take long as in the 96th minute, sophomore forward Leyah Hall-Robinson called game, netting her second goal of the contest for the overtime winner.
“[Junior midfielder Toni Starova] played me a great ball into the box,” Hall-Robinson said. “I saw far post, and I just slotted it back post.”
The overtime winner was Hall-Robinson’s third goal involvement of the spring season as the forward picked up an assist in the team’s season opener.
“The fall gave us a lot of chances to train kids on an individual basis,” said head coach Tim Santoro. “And we got a lot of the fall — it’s ironic that we didn’t play but we got a lot out of the fall, and she’s one that we saw a big jump from. And so far, she’s not as clean as we want her but she has been really good at times.”
After going behind in just the second minute due to a lethal Seahawks (0-1) counterattack, the Wolfpack (2-0) started to come into the game more as the first half progressed, earning a penalty and coming close to scoring a few times, but ultimately, the Pack still went into halftime trailing 1-0.
“They tried to press us in the middle of the field, and we were too slow on the ball and took too many touches,” Santoro said.. “At the beginning of the second half, with 25-30 minutes, we were moving the ball: one and two-touch and not dribbling as much. We got turned over a lot in the first half and just got caught playing too slow. So hopefully they learned that from the first half to the second half tonight.”
Out of the break, the Wolfpack switched things up a bit, running with a trio of attackers in an attempt to generate more offense. In addition to the attacking change, junior defender Margot Ridgeway had more license to go forward with junior defender Mia Thillet providing more cover on the opposite side.
“It was a hybrid between a 3 and a 4 [at the back], more so on one side just to try to couple things we saw to exploit a little bit,” Santoro said. “The girls did really well the first 30 minutes of the second half. But we got a little sloppy in the end and they missed a really good chance, but we found a way.”
The switch produced immediate results in the 51st minute, as redshirt junior defender Lulu Guttenberger laid a perfect pass to Hall-Robinson, who made a run towards the net and scored in the lower left corner.
The formation change also seemed to improve things defensively for the Wolfpack, who prevented the Seahawks from registering a shot in the first 29 minutes of the second half. But once the Seahawks broke that string of shotless soccer, they were able to earn some high quality scoring chances.
Both teams came close to stealing a late winner as a miscue by the NC State defense yielded a potential tap-in for UNCW that was sent over the crossbar. Minutes later, junior forward Denae Antoine got the ball just inside the UNCW box and loosed a left-footed shot that drilled the post. Before either team could get the lead, the clock ran out to conclude the second half.
Santoro named a nearly unchanged starting lineup from the season opener with senior defender Mackenzie Crittenberger coming in for sophomore forward Jameese Joseph being the lone change. Joseph went off injured in the second half of Sunday’s 2-0 win over Old Dominion.
“It is day to day, nothing long term,” Santoro said. “We are just going to be cautious this spring. We need every kid in one piece by the fall so we aren’t going to push anything. I expect to see her back sooner rather than later. Next week, maybe, we might hold her one more time. It is nothing serious.”
The next time the Wolfpack plays, it’ll be facing off against the Campbell Camels on Tuesday, Feb. 16. That game will take place at Dail Soccer Stadium and is set for 7 p.m.
Sophomore forward Leyah Hall-Robinson and UNC Wilmington midfielder Alysa McLaughlin fall after colliding on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021 at Dail Soccer Field. Hall-Robinson scored twice as the Wolfpack won 2-1 in overtime.
