During N.C. State’s previous game, the Wolfpack had missed out on several opportunities to finish goals and ended with a double-overtime 1-1 tie with Old Dominion. But State was able to take advantage of several opportunities Sunday, defeating Maryland-Baltimore County 3-1.
Midway through the first half, it looked as though missed opportunities were going to haunt the Pack again. Junior forward Lindsay Vera took a shot that clanged off the crossbar. Minutes later, senior midfielder Jessica O’Rourke was alone in front of the goal, but she couldn’t put one in the net.
Four minutes later, Vera put the Pack on the board with her team-leading fifth goal of the season. The ball crossed through the box, coming off a defender. Vera said the defender was trying to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper.
“The girl was talking out loud, ‘Oh, shoot,'” Vera said. “She got really nervous and touched the ball too far in front of her. I kept going and stepped in front of her. The goalie came out, and I just put it away in the corner.”
Less than a minute later, State found the back of the net again. Coming off a UMBC foul, sophomore defender Katie Ruiz had a free kick. The ball sailed over a third of the field, leaving the defense behind.
Freshman forward Kara Baldy received the kick and buried her first collegiate goal to give State a 2-0 lead.
“Vera [and I] had both beaten the defender,” Baldy said. “We were both right there, and we both called it. But then I heard her, just for split second, she was like ‘You got it; you got it.’ So I looked up and saw the goalie cheating near post, and I just finished it back post.”
Baldy said getting the first goal of her college career out of the way should break the ice for more goals in the future. “I’m a little less nervous playing now,” she said.
Vera said the team worked a lot on finishing during practice in an effort to take better advantage of scoring opportunities.
“Some people get too excited when the ball’s coming to them,” she said. “We’ve got to learn to relax, and today everybody did that.”
Coach Laura Kerrigan said she was pleased with the team’s performance against the Retrievers.
“Once we got into the second part of the first half, we switched to the point of attack much better,” Kerrigan said. “In the second half, we were able to get more pressure on the ball. We were able to finish three times, which was good. Obviously we want to keep working on our finishing.”
Kerrigan said the team was better Sunday with finishing its scoring opportunities, but it still has work to do.
“We’ve hit more crossbars and posts than we have the past two seasons, and we’re only six games in this season,” she said. “We just seem to find the iron frequently. Each game we get a little bit smarter and stronger. Some of those goals were the result of us being at the right place at the right time, and that’s something we didn’t do well in the last game.”
Vera said the team did well with its communication, and that made the team more relaxed.
“Everybody was real calm today, but still talking,” she said. “It kind of relaxed everybody. Everybody read each other today. If someone made a run, we saw it and played the ball to her feet. It was a good rhythm today.”
For the final 26 minutes of the game, State had only underclassmen on the field. Kerrigan said it was in an effort to get younger players more experience with the ACC schedule coming up.
“Once we were able to build a 3-0 lead, it was a good opportunity to get some other players on the field and get some of our players who have played quite a bit some rest,” she said.
