RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State dropped a hard fought match, 3-0, to No. 27 William & Mary at Method Road Soccer Stadium on Sunday.
Emily Kittleson scored twice to lead the Tribe.
Coming off Friday’s impressive 5-1 win over Davison in the
season opener, NC State (1-1) looked destined to stake themselves to an early
lead when freshman Kara Baldy had a great scoring opportunity but her shot
rifled just wide of goal midway through the first half.
Just over a minute late Kittleson struck for her first goal
of the season at the 24:36 mark when she fired a shot from 30 yards into the
back of the net.
Mary MacKenzie Grier kept the momentum in favor of the
visitors with another marker just 44 seconds later for a 2-0 lead. Grier
one-timed a long free kick by Abby Lauer into the left side of the net.
After intermission, Kittleson wasted little time in scoring
her second goal of the match as she cleaned up a blocked shot that was rolling
through the goalmouth in the 49th minute.
NC State dug deep and strung together several scoring
chances in the second half. Friday’s hero Lindsay Vera, who netted a hat trick
in a span of five minutes, and senior Jessica O'Rourke consistently penetrated
the Tribe defense, but was unable to find the back of the net.
Sophomore defender Gia Cipollini raced from her back-line
position to put a shot into the upper-left corner from 25-yards out that seemed
destined to go in. However, Tribe keeper Meghan Walker deflected the ball off
the right post to keep her clean sheet.
Walker made six saves for the Tribe, while Sydney Little
came up with four saves. Freshman Rachel Barnette saw her first collegiate
action, working the final 31:49 and made one save.
The Wolfpack take part in the High Point Tournament
beginning on Thursday against Campbell at 5 pm in High Point, N.C. The Pack
will later take on the host Panthers on Saturday at 3:30 pm.
