BUIES CREEK, NC— The NC State women’s soccer team drew 1-1 with the Campbell Fighting Camels on Thursday, Aug. 26 in the team’s third and final game of its season-opening road swing.
Similarly to the game against Old Dominion, the Wolfpack (1-0-2) took a lead into halftime before conceding an equalizer in the second half. Unlike the showdown with the Monarchs, junior defender Jenna Butler’s late-game heroics were denied by the Camels (0-1-1).
With the game tied and just a minute remaining in the second half of overtime, Butler got on the end of a corner and headed it goalward, only to be turned away by a player on the line. Throughout the game, the Wolfpack had 16 shots, but only five found the target.
“We had a lot of opportunities in the final third,” said head coach Tim Santoro. “I thought our decision making, final pass, shot, shot quality wasn’t good. …We just don’t have the execution yet, but we’ll get it. I liked a lot about tonight. I’m disappointed we gave up that goal on the set piece, but this is a young team that’s done pretty well so far. We haven’t lost, and I have to give them credit. …We’re a work in progress but we’re going in the right direction for sure.”
After an end-to-end opening to the game, freshman midfielder Annika Wohner put the Pack ahead 1-0 with an excellent free kick from just outside the box. Wohner and redshirt junior defender Lulu Guttenberger both stood over the free kick, but it was Wohner who took it, driving the ball up and over the wall before it dipped in for the goal.
“I worked with our assistant coach on some free kicks, so we were sitting there and [Guttenberger] was like, ‘You hit someone this morning. How do you feel? Wanna hit it?’ I was like, ‘Yup. Gotta put it top right,’” Wohner said.
While the goal was Wohner’s first official goal, she bagged three in the Wolfpack’s two preseason games, starting off her college career well.
Without sophomore midfielder Jaiden Thomas, who started both of the Pack’s first two games, the NC State’s lineup saw some minor changes. Freshman forward Mia Vaughan entered the XI and slotted in at left back, which pushed freshman defender Frenanda Soto to right back and freshman defender Brianna Weber into the midfield. Freshman midfielder Michaela Virgin also entered the starting XI in place of senior forward Denae Antoine, pushing Wohner into the strike reposition.
Weber played very well in the midfield, helping to control the game and repel a Campbell attack that looked dangerous throughout the evening.
“That’s where she played when we recruited her,” Santro said. “We’ve made her into a back because she played some there. But, [junior midfielder Toni Starova is] very limited right now. Jaiden is not here, [freshman defender Nina Zimmer] is not here. We’re trying to piece something together. Some of it’s trial and error for me, moving these pieces around. But she’s played both positions and she can handle it. For a young player to play four games, I think she’s played four different positions, it’s bad coaching and it’s her showing that she’s a good player.”
One of the Wolfpack’s standout players throughout the entire game was freshman midfielder Emika Kawagishi. Playing as a deep-lying playmaker, a role dominated by now-Pack Pro Ricci Walkling in previous years, Kawagishi was constantly on the ball making plays and keeping the Wolfpack ticking in possession as she has all season.
“She’s very similar to Ricci, but again, she’s only played four games,” Santoro said. “She’s still learning. The American game is so physical, so fast, but she’s really got a good head on her shoulders, good touch, good vision, and knows how to dictate the tempo of the game. She’s another one that’s only going to get better. I think back to Ricci in game four compared to game 84, Ricci grew a lot as a player and [Kawagishi is] just gonna keep going the same way. She’s a high, high quality player.”
The Pack will be back in action this weekend, returning home for the first time this season to take on South Carolina on Sunday, Aug. 29.
