No. 16 Women’s Soccer Earns 2-1 Win Over No. 10 South Carolina

Sunday, August 26

Raleigh, N.C.

1 PM

NC State

3-0-1

No. 10 South Carolina

3-1-0

South Carolina

NC State

No. 16 Women’s Soccer Earns 2-1 Win Over No. 10 South Carolina

8/26/2018 4:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

RALEIGH – With a pair of second half goals and key defensive play, the No. 16 NC State women's soccer team earned a 2-1 win over No. 10 South Carolina on Sunday afternoon at Dail Soccer Stadium.

The result marked the Gamecocks' first loss of the season, a 2017 College Cup participant, as they move to 3-1-0. The Wolfpack remains undefeated and improves to 3-0-1.

The victory marks the eighth time since the program's 2016 breakout season that the team has beaten or tied a top 25 program. It additionally marks the 13th consecutive match the team has not had a loss on its home turf (since Sept. 7, 2017), and extends the program's unbeaten streak in regular-season competition to nine (since Oct. 8, 2017).

Quoting The Team

.@PackWSOCoach on today's performance pic.twitter.com/BtQRRhGCeY
— PackWSoccer⚽️ (@PackWSoccer) August 26, 2018

.@MaxineBlackwood and Kia Rankin on the early second half goal this afternoon pic.twitter.com/RvVy0zM0eI
— PackWSoccer⚽️ (@PackWSoccer) August 26, 2018

How It Happened
Both teams were scoreless after the first 45 minutes as NC State held an 11-0 shot advantage. Tziarra King found the back of the net in the 28th minute off a pass from Ricci Walkling, but was called offside.

King opened the second half with her third goal of the season in the 50th minute. She got the last touch on Maxine Blackwood's strike from 10 yards out after Kia Rankin passed it to her. It was South Carolina's first goal conceded this season.

13 minutes later, Rankin received a long ball from Jenna Butler, and broke away to put the ball in the net and double her team's lead.

South Carolina got on the board in the 81st minute on a head header goal from Claire Griffiths, as Dominique Moxie serviced the ball to the middle of the box after a free kick.

Sydney Wootten was forced to make just one save in the match thanks to the Pack's strong backline. In the final minutes of the contest Luciana Zullo made a strike on goal heading towards the left post but Wootten was able to keep the equalizer from going in.

NC State out shot South Carolina 14-8, and the squads won three corners apiece.

Up Next
NC State will head up north for a pair of matches this weekend. The team will play Penn Friday at 5 p.m., then travel to No. 14 Princeton Sunday for a 7 p.m. matchup. Both contests will be streamed on ESPN+.