Sarah Cochran
Freshman midfielder Annika Wohner fights to maintain possession of the ball during pressure from the Syracuse offense on Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021 in Dail Soccer Stadium. The Wolfpack beat Syracuse 3-0 in the Wolfpack's last home game of the season.
Making the NCAA Tournament for a fifth consecutive fall season as an at-large team, the NC State women’s soccer team will face No. 23 South Florida in the first round of the tournament.
The showdown will be the first ever between the two programs as the Wolfpack (8-8-2, 4-6-0 ACC), hits the road to face the Bulls (12-3-3, 6-1-1 AAC) on Sunday, Nov. 14.
South Florida enters the tournament having narrowly missed out on an American Athletic Conference title, losing to Memphis on PKs in the championship game.
After two losses against No. 6 Tennessee and then-receiving-votes LSU early in the season, the Bulls have been on a tear through the back of the season. The team’s only other loss on the season came against No. 25 SMU, a loss it avenged in its conference tournament.
Led by junior Sydny Nasello, the Bulls had a very comparable offense to the Wolfpack and scored just two fewer goals on the season. Nasello herself racked up 11 goals and five assists on the season, with the next highest scorer notching just three goals. While she scored the majority of the goals, Nasello also led the team in assists with five. If the Wolfpack can stifle Nasello, it will go a long way to stopping the Bulls’ attack as a whole.
While the Pack has a go-to forward of its own in sophomore Jameese Joseph, players like freshman midfielder Annika Wohner, who scored five goals this season, help take some of the weight off Joseph’s shoulders.
The Bulls are slightly more stout than the Wolfpack on the defensive end, conceding five fewer goals this season, but neither side has given up more than two goals in any given game.
The Wolfpack’s freshman shot stopper Maria Echezarreta has proven to be a game changer this season. Coming up with big games in the important moments, the Spaniard made eight saves in the Wolfpack’s 1-0 win over UNC-Chapel Hill and made six or more in each of the team’s last four games.
South Florida’s starting keeper, junior Sydney Martinez had some eight save games of her own and has been a consistent starter since her freshman season.
With two solid defenses backed by great keepers, expect Sunday’s game to be very low scoring. As should be expected in a postseason matchup.
What really sets the two teams apart is the strength of their schedules. While South Florida played some solid teams, like Tennessee and SMU, the Massey Rankings have its strength of schedule at 72. By comparison, the Wolfpack had the fifth hardest schedule of any team in the country according to those same rankings.
With such a young roster, that tough schedule should benefit the Wolfpack in the postseason as the freshmen have learned to battle in those tough matchups against tough teams. A fact it proved by knocking off two top-5 teams in less than 10 days.
Under head coach Tim Santoro, the Wolfpack has had its fair share of postseason success, reaching three Sweet 16s in three of the last four fall tournaments and winning at least its first round matchup in all four.
While this Pack roster is overall incredibly young, there are some players on the team, like the center back duo of redshirt junior Lulu Guttenberger and Jenna Butler, who have been part of those successful teams.
Should the Wolfpack advance against the Bulls, it would likely face Pepperdine, the No. 4 seed in its bracket and No. 19 ranked team in the country. From there, a showdown with the ACC Champion Florida State Seminoles is the most likely path for the Pack.