October 19th, 2023
Final: NC State 2 Syracuse 0
Raleigh, NC- On a cool brisk fall night in Dail Soccer Park, the NC State Women’s soccer team played host to the Syracuse Orange with NC State having its annual Pink Out game recognizing breast cancer awareness. The Wolfpack (3-7-6, 2-3-3) came into the matchup with a 4-2-1 overall record again the Orange including holding a 5-match unbeaten streak with four of those being wins. In those 5 games, the Pack held a 16-6 scoring advantage coming in.
The first half began with the Pack on the attack through the first 5 minutes of the match and earned their first corner kick just 7 minutes into the match. The Pack held possession for most of the first 10 minutes of the match as they were able to consistently beat the Orange to several passes and forced the Orange to play on their heels early on.
The Pack forced a second corner kick at the 14th minute, however, were unable to capitalize on either of the early set pieces. In the 15th minute the Pack was able to earn a penalty kick and subsequently took a 1-0 lead just minutes later off the foot of Hannah Jibril. The goal was unassisted off the penalty spot kick. It was Jibril’s first career goal.
The Pack continued to put the pressure on the Orange throughout the rest of the half and ended the half with a 3-2 advantage on shots on goal. Through the 1st 45 minutes, the lead stayed at 1-0.
The second half of the match began with the Orange coming out more aggressive and put early pressure on the Pack in the early minutes of the half and were able to get a couple of scoring opportunities that just were not able to connect. The next 5 minutes were mostly controlled by the Orange as they held possession for the majority of the early portion of the second half. Syracuse took an 8-6 shots lead after being outshot on goal in the first half.
The Wolfpack midway through the second half turned up the heat on the Orange with a high danger chance off a corner kick in the 67th minute as a header was nearly snuck in for the 2-0 lead. The Orange staved off the attack and immediately countered with a higher danger chance of their own and nearly tied it in the 69th minute.
Syracuse finished the game with 12 total shots to the Wolfpack’s 11. The shots on goal were tied at 5-5. NC State put the game away with a goal in the 87th minute after a rebound off the shot from Jamese Joseph by Annika Wohner to give the Pack the 2-0 victory. Junior GoalKeeper Olivia Pratapas earned her second consecutive shutout in the last week.
Coach TIm Santoro met with the media after the game to talk about his goaltending:
“Liv has done what she has had to do. She made some great saves and has been steady. The back line in front of her has been bend but don’t break and again you get shutouts in this league and it doesn’t matter who you play, they’re hard to get. Wins are hard to get. Points are hard to get and shutouts are hard to get.”
Next up for the Wolfpack is Sunday match with Notre Dame at 1pm at Dail Soccer Park.
